What you need to know before the US open February 27, 2014 US markets are expected to open lower today, following European counterparts that have remained cautious because of the worsening situation in Ukraine. The FTSE lost almost one per cent this morning, dragged down by struggling bank RBS, which has shed almost ten per cent. Janet Yellen’s due to speak to the Senate later today – [...]
Rouble slips on Ukraine crisis February 26, 2014 THE rouble sank to a five-year low yesterday as investors reacted nervously to Russia’s government flexing its muscles over Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin ordered military drills near the border to Ukraine, where protests have sparked widespread violence. US secretary of state John Kerry said Washington was considering $1bn in loan guarantees for Ukraine. The greenback [...]
Letters to the Editor – 27/02 – Baby boom, Socialist Venezuela, Best of Twitter February 26, 2014 Baby boom [Re: In Britain, recessions mean more babies. In the US, births fall, yesterday] Allister Heath is right to draw attention to the remarkable rise in UK fertility rates in the 2000s, and that this is good news for our economic future, provided we build the houses and schools that we will need. However, [...]
Why Ukraine exposure might benefit Ferrexpo February 26, 2014 As the political tensions heighten in Ukraine following last week’s ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych, the beleaguered country’s currency – the hryvnia – has suffered too, plunging to a 10-year low today. The outcome of the crisis is still unknown but analysts are already speculating on a possible upside for Ukraine-focused iron ore producer Ferrexpo. [...]
Letters to the Editor – 25/02 – Intimidated Russia, Best of Twitter February 24, 2014 Intimidated Russia [Re: Russia must back down over Ukraine to avoid a catastrophe, yesterday] The situation with Russia is more complicated than generally appreciated. Suppose the communist system of the USSR had triumphed and that, one by one, European states had applied to join that Union, and were then invited to join the Warsaw Pact. [...]
Ukraine’s next government has 2 big challenges to face February 24, 2014 With Ukrainian presidential elections scheduled for May, the next government will have to return stability to an area that's seen mass protests since last November. The current government is unlikely to last beyond those elections. Former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko has ruled herself out of the running for the current government, after being released from [...]
What you need to know before the open February 24, 2014 European markets are expected marginally lower this morning, following Asian counterparts, which were left unsatisfied by the G20’s commitment of an extra $2 trillion in output over the next five years. The UK market posted its third successive gain last week, but things in the rest of Europe and the US weren’t as positive, following [...]
Europe and Russia spar over Ukraine February 24, 2014 UKRAINE was at the heart of a diplomatic and financial battle between Europe and Russia last night, as the struggle for influence in the wake of the country’s revolution intensified. After absent President Viktor Yanukovich was ousted from his position and a key ally of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko took his place, the EU [...]
Russia must back down over Ukraine to avoid a catastrophe February 24, 2014 VLADIMIR Ilyich Lenin was a monster. He was a central theorist of communism, a key player in the Bolshevik revolution, a commissar, a leading instigator of the Red Terror and other massacres, and the first leader of the Soviet Union. For decades, busts of Lenin adorned the communist empire; they were finally torn down in [...]
The West has killed its entrepreneurs and replaced them with bureaucrats February 23, 2014 IF WESTERN economies have lost considerable ground to emerging powers over the last two decades, it is not simply because we lack the cheap labour of China and India or the natural resources of Russia and Brazil. It is because we have killed our own entrepreneurs at a time when our competitors made business creators [...]