After the Bank of England held interest rates at 0.5 per cent, should it soon consider a rise? November 8, 2012 YES Andrew Sentence Monetary policy has reached its limits in supporting growth via more stimulus. The challenge now is to adjust to the “new normal” – a world which has been forged by the financial crisis and the rapid growth of emerging market economies. As part of this adjustment, we need to gradually return interest [...]
House repossessions fall to five-year low November 8, 2012 House repossessions fell to a five-year low in the third quarter, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said today. A total of 8,200 properties were taken into possession over the three months to September, down from 8,500 in the second quarter and 9,600 the year previously, the trade body said. Over the first nine months [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 6, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES BHP begins hunt for new chief BHP Billiton has quietly started looking for a successor to Marius Kloppers, chief executive, in what could herald a further shake-up in the leadership of the global mining industry following a five-year period of stability. JPMorgan in talks over SEC claims JPMorgan Chase is in advanced settlement [...]
Give yourself a bit of credit November 4, 2012 OVER £12.6bn was spent on credit cards in September 2012 alone. They’re a convenient way to manage your expenses — you can spread the cost of large purchases, give yourself an extra layer of protection against fraud, and they could help you build up a good credit history if used sensibly. But given the size [...]
World’s freest economies managed to avoid banking crisis November 1, 2012 IT is usually claimed that the financial crisis was caused by excessively free markets. Those of us who disagree – and emphasise governments’s role in distorting markets, including by subsidising risk via the moral hazard caused by insane taxpayer guarantees and by fuelling credit and property bubbles via excessively loose monetary policy – are in [...]
US mortgage applications slump despite more relaxed loan terms October 31, 2012 US CREDIT conditions on bank loans eased in the three months to October, data showed yesterday, but this improvement was not enough to boost demand for mortgages, according to separate statistics. Banks are dropping both standards and terms, the Federal Reserve said, driven by fierce competition from other banks as well as non-bank lenders. US [...]
Financial regulation is worsening Europe’s demographic time bomb October 31, 2012 THERE is more to Europe’s current challenges than debt, stagnation and unemployment. There is an elephant in the room that could become the biggest issue of all: an ageing population. Europe’s baby boom started in the 1950s and the proportion of retirees relative to the working population, therefore, is beginning to rise. This will inevitably [...]
Lending jumps as government scheme helps October 29, 2012 LENDING to individuals bounced back in September, data out yesterday showed, as the full impact of the Funding for Lending scheme (FLS) began to be felt. Consumer credit climbed £1.2bn in the month, the Bank of England said, in the second month of the government and Bank of England’s plan to boost lending. Analysts said [...]
Federal Prosecutors sue BoA for $1bn in mortgage fraud lawsuit October 24, 2012 BANK of America defrauded the US government in a scheme called “the Hustle”, US federal prosecutors, which are seeking $1bn (£624m) in compensation, alleged yesterday. In the civil lawsuit Countrywide Financial, which Bank of America bought in 2008, is accused of selling thousands of toxic home loans to US government agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie [...]
Greenback eases after Federal Reserve sticks with stimulus October 24, 2012 THE DOLLAR drifted off a two-week peak against a basket of major currencies last night after the Federal Reserve stuck to its stimulus programme known as QE3. Following a two-day meeting, the Fed repeated its vow to maintain rates near zero until mid-2015 and to support growth even as some parts of the economy looked [...]