The Fed’s taper surprise highlights a wider problem with monetary policy September 19, 2013 THE US Federal Reserve’s surprise decision not to scale back its stimulus programme on Wednesday night should not perhaps have been so unexpected. Back in 2010, in those early days of quantitative easing by the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, I suggested that both institutions would be tempted to make sure the [...]
Analyst Views: Can Kingfisher get back to growth after its latest results? September 11, 2013 KEITH BOWMAN HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The results are broadly in line with forecasts, with management, unlike the chancellor, still cautious and hesitant in proclaiming an economic recovery. Weather volatility has played a major part, whilst divergence in consumer confidence across its geographical footprint continues to impact. JAMES GRZINIC JEFFERIES There is little of surprise from [...]
New fears house bubble may undermine recovery September 9, 2013 PLANS to pump up the housing market could undo the UK’s progress towards sustained economic growth, economists warned yesterday after the chancellor welcomed the recovery. George Osborne yesterday said the return to growth vindicated his decisions to stick with the deficit reduction plans, and insisted he is working to improve living standards. Analysts praised the [...]
Osborne has defeated Ed Balls – but UK’s economy still fragile September 9, 2013 WITH the economy finally growing much more quickly, it is no surprise that the chancellor chose yesterday to show off about it. He is certainly right to be celebrating having seen off Labour’s Ed Balls, whose strident opposition to modest cuts and claims they would inflict permanent havoc are no longer credible. Osborne is also [...]
UK economy continues to accelerate – but dangers loom large September 3, 2013 ECONOMISTS can be divided into two groups: the overly optimistic, and the overly pessimistic. Even less helpfully, they keep changing category, in tandem with the economic cycle. Few saw the recession coming and were subsequently forced to slash their forecasts; most underestimated the depth and duration of the crisis; and today most are being caught [...]
Carney tears up King’s rulebook August 28, 2013 BANK lending is in line for a £90bn boost after Mark Carney yesterday agreed to let the safest institutions divert resources away from regulatory liquidity buffers and into business and household credit. It comes after business secretary Vince Cable called the Bank of England the “capital Taliban,” claiming regulators’ tough capital requirements were hitting [...]
Governor stands firm on plan for UK interest rates August 28, 2013 INTEREST rates could stay at rock bottom even after unemployment falls below seven per cent, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said yesterday. In a bid to convince sceptical markets he really is serious about keeping rates down for the next three years, Carney said he would look for a wide range of evidence that [...]
Bad news for Labour: Voters are getting behind coalition’s cuts August 6, 2013 ED BALLS and the Labour party have a big problem. The British economy is recovering, despite the coalition’s relatively modest cuts, and the public is increasingly supportive of reducing public spending. This is a devastating blow for Labour’s entire narrative, which was predicated on the view that “cutting too far and too fast” would not [...]
City A.M. shadow MPC votes 8-1 against rise in QE July 31, 2013 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. “Given the expansion of GDP in the second quarter, there would be no benefit to extending QE or cutting rates. The MPC needs to privately work on a way to exit from our current monetary policy, which is now a net drag on the economy.” GRAEME LEACH | INSTITUTE OF [...]
Legal bills drag down Deutsche Bank’s earnings July 30, 2013 GERMAN lender Deutsche Bank saw profits plunge on soaring litigation fees in the second quarter, the institution announced yesterday, while it had to announce further cuts to operations to hit new regulatory capital targets. Net income fell 50 per cent to €335m (£291.5m), despite net revenues rising two per cent to €8.2bn. Corporate banking and securities [...]