Households are full of hope now inflation is falling April 16, 2014 Politicians are tiptoeing around the news that wages are growing faster than inflation – nobody wants to be first to say the cost of living crisis is over, after years of soaring prices. But households themselves expect to feel better off over the next year, just in time for the election. People don’t feel better [...]
Wage growth is back with a bang as unemployment falls below 7pc April 16, 2014 Perhaps finally an ease to consumer budgets, and a chance that the "cost of living crisis" meme may start to fade away. For the first time since July 2009, the Office for National Statistics' measure of average earnings growth may now exceed headline inflation. Yesterday saw headline consumer price inflation fall to a four and [...]
Real wages may rise, but earnings are still set for a lost decade April 15, 2014 This morning’s official figures confirmed another drop in inflation, with consumer prices rising by only 1.6 per cent in the year to February, the lowest in four and a half years. Average weekly earnings rose 1.7 per cent in the year to January, with private sector earnings up 1.9 per cent, and even stronger growth [...]
Crazed global investors have become gluttons for punishment April 10, 2014 CREDITORS are strange beasts: they appear to have virtually zero memory, to be gluttons for punishment and to embrace rewards for failure. There can be no other possible explanation for Greece’s astonishingly successful return to the bond markets yesterday – apart, that is, from the fact that there is clearly far too much cash burning [...]
Greece may start issuing bonds again, but its economy is still shattered April 9, 2014 The Greek government looks set to return to bond markets this week, after a four-year absence – its last issue for seven-year bonds was in the first quarter of 2010, a couple of months ahead of the bailout that locked it out of markets. But earlier this year, finance minister Yannis Stournaras laid out a [...]
The real reason you should be depressed by political soundbites April 7, 2014 POLITICAL sound-bites can be excruciating. They hang around for a year or two before disappearing when they become untenable. Who can forget Labour’s “too far, too fast”, or the Conservatives’ “global race”? With just over a year to go before the general election, you’ll be depressed to hear the current offerings look entrenched. The Conservatives [...]
Why it’s time to focus on the real cause of the housing crisis April 7, 2014 THE housing crisis in London and its commuter belt can be blamed on one simple problem: there is an under-supply of property. All of the other explanations – interest rates remain low, the impact of quantitative easing or the government’s ridiculous help to buy subsidies – are merely secondary. It is certainly not the case [...]
Why open borders should be the West’s peaceful response to Russian aggression March 26, 2014 Western nations have responded to Russia’s annexation of Crimea with moral condemnation and a series of sanctions against individuals with close ties to the Kremlin. On 21 March, the EU extended visa restrictions to a further 12 individuals. Later today Barack Obama will meet with EU leaders to discuss a response to Russia’s actions, after [...]
Why open borders should be the West’s peaceful response to Russian aggression March 26, 2014 Western nations have responded to Russia's annexation of Crimea with moral condemnation and a series of sanctions against individuals with close ties to the Kremlin. On 21 March, the EU extended visa restrictions to a further 12 individuals. Later today Barack Obama will meet with EU leaders to discuss a response to Russia's actions, after [...]
Why Barclays thinks European investors are missing out to US peers March 24, 2014 At the moment, European equities are, as a whole, pretty cheap. And what’s more, those with higher leverage are even cheaper. That’s according to Barclays, whose note today, “Learning to live with leverage”, details why it thinks European equity investors are still underestimating the impact of improved fixed income markets. The bank thinks there’s a [...]