Why Poland’s recovery from communism has lessons for Britain now January 15, 2014 POLAND was the only EU country to avoid a recession during the financial crisis of 2007-2009. Polish GDP is now 36 per cent higher than it was in 2005. To put this in context, the comparable figures for the UK and Germany are 5 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. By any standard, the [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 15 January 2014 January 14, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Cameron shelves migration report David Cameron shelved a government report on EU migration, after Theresa May, home secretary, failed to provide evidence to support her case for imposing tighter curbs on immigrants. May, whose department was responsible for drafting the report, said last month there was “abuse of free movement” and that some [...]
General Motors sales on the climb January 14, 2014 General Motors said yesterday its global sales grew four per cent in 2013 on strong demand in the world’s two largest car markets, China and the United States. Sales of the top US automaker hit 9,714,652 cars and light trucks, an increase of more than 417,000 vehicles, as demand surged 11 per cent to a [...]
Chinese holidaymakers lead the charge over Christmas period January 13, 2014 WEALTHY foreign visitors helped keep Britain’s tills ringing over Christmas with spending up a record 40 per cent on the previous year. Chinese tourists led the charge, with spending up 52 per cent to around £741 per transaction in December, according to figures out yesterday by tax-free shopping specialist Global Blue. China accounted for the [...]
WPP takes a stronger hold of its Russian media investment firms January 13, 2014 GLOBAL advertising giant WPP has taken a majority stake in its WVI Group joint venture, comprised of Russian media investment businesses including GroupM, MediaCom and global marketing communications company JWT. WPP will hold an 80 per cent stake in the WVI Group following the deal, with an agreement to purchase the remaining 20 per cent [...]
Chinese holidaymakers lead the charge over Christmas January 13, 2014 Wealthy foreign visitors helped keep Britain’s tills ringing over Christmas with spending up a record 40 per cent on the previous year. Chinese tourists led the charge, with spending up 52 per cent to around £741 per transaction in December, according to figures out today by tax-free shopping specialist Global Blue. While China accounted for [...]
UK car industry racing back as Jaguar sales rise January 12, 2014 JAGUAR Land Rover smashed its annual sales record in 2013, helped by the soaring global demand for luxury British cars that has revived the fortunes of the UK motor manufacturing industry. The company, which sells 85 per cent of its cars abroad, sold 425,006 vehicles last year, a rise of 19 per cent. More than [...]
How the EU has used the environment as a protectionist weapon January 12, 2014 THE EU has long claimed a reputation as a promoter of free trade – for breaking down boundaries, and allowing capital and goods to flow across borders without hindrance. But protectionism hasn’t disappeared; it’s just taken on a more subtle form. The EU has been using the environment as a trade weapon. Late last year, [...]
The energy helping Big Oil lead the international charge January 10, 2014 With independent oil companies dominating in the US, Big Oil (the biggest five or six global oil companies) is now "leading the international charge", becoming "more and more relevant to mainstream investors", says investment bank JP Morgan. And it's unconventional energy that's helping Big Oil lock down the most material opportunities, set to take up [...]
The dovish consensus is wrong: It is time for interest rate hikes January 9, 2014 ECONOMISTS seem to lurch from one dangerous fad to another. In the late 1980s, most supported the European exchange rate mechanism, which blew up spectacularly; in the 1990s, many supported UK membership of the euro, which would have been a disaster; during the 2000s, few saw the bubble coming and most missed the credit and [...]