Starmer ramps up attacks on ‘high tax’ Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak February 2, 2022 Sir Keir Starmer has renewed attacks on Boris Johnson for overseeing a series of tax rises, saying that the Prime Minister is targeting “working people” as inflation soars. The Labour leader today said Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak were like a “Tory Thelma and Louise, hand-in-hand as they drive the country off the cliff and [...]
It’s a myth that ETFs are eating the world February 2, 2022 ‘Software is eating the world’: so wrote the US venture capitalist Marc Andreessen back in 2011. From today’s perspective, with companies like Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta dominating the stock markets, Andreessen’s observation seems to have held up. Had BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink made similar comments about exchange-traded funds (ETFs) 11 years ago, he likewise [...]
Government plans £6bn loan scheme to protect households from soaring energy bills February 2, 2022 Downing Street will offer struggling energy companies access to billions of pounds in state-backed loans, according to The Times.
Shop price inflation highest in a decade as Brits feel cost of living squeeze February 2, 2022 Retail inflation has soared in the past month, with Brits eyeing discount retailers for cheaper prices as the country faces a cost of living squeeze. Shop price annual inflation surged to 1.5 per cent in January, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen IQ shop price index. This was up from 0.8 per [...]
Uncertainty from our leaders is keeping our economic recovery wavering on the brink February 2, 2022 In November last year, the UK’s total GDP output finally regained its pre-pandemic level. But although the economic recovery is on an upward trajectory, there is a disconcerting stop-start hesitancy to it. A reasonable indicator of where the economy stands in any given month is the purchasing managers’ index which shows the prevailing direction of [...]
Ankr, Bancor, dYdX and Ox added to eToro February 1, 2022 Tel Aviv-based brokerage has now made Ankr (ANKR), Bancor (BNT), dYdX (DYDX) and 0x (ZRX) available, nudging its total of digital assets up to 49.
Households face extra £180 a year on average grocery bill February 1, 2022 Households are facing an extra £180 to their annual grocery bill after inflation has seen prices surge in recent months. The latest four-week grocery price inflation stands at 3.8 per cent, a 0.3 percentage point rise from December, according to the latest market data from Kantar. Take-home supermarket sales dropped 3.8 per cent over the [...]
Pension savers may lose thousands of pounds if they do not move ‘older pots’ February 1, 2022 If pension savers do not move older pots into ones offering better value for money, they could be thousands of pounds worse off, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned this morning. Many working-age people have pension pots that they are no longer actively contributing to – and there are concerns that these pots could provide [...]
Economists call hike in national insurance tax during cost of living crisis ‘extremely perverse’ February 1, 2022 Raising national insurance contributions during a cost of living crisis is the wrong thing to do, economists have warned. Giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee, Tom Clougherty, from the Centre for Policy Studies, said it was “extremely perverse” to raise the tax currently and it should be delayed. Clougherty said it was “extremely perverse [...]
How can the blockchain help tackle climate change? February 1, 2022 When you think of all the use cases for blockchain technology, solving the existential threat that is climate change is probably not one of them. If anything, crypto has had to play defence in 2021 when it comes to environmental issues, as big questions have been posed about the industry’s energy consumption and sustainability. Well, [...]