Tax French wine and German cars August 24, 2011 IT is a truth universally acknowledged that Europeans drink too much, and also drive too much. There is a simple way to combat these social evils at the source, which the British government should push – new pan-EU taxes on wine production and on car production. France and Germany can’t complain that these taxes are [...]
World leaders urge Gaddafi to surrender August 22, 2011 AS REBEL forces moved closer to gaining control of Tripoli yesterday, world leaders united in urging ordinary Libyans to finally push out Colonel Gaddafi after 41 years in power. Prime Minister David Cameron said the tyrant had “committed appalling crimes against the people of Libya and he must go now to avoid any further suffering”. [...]
Strauss-Kahn sex case to be dropped today August 22, 2011 FORMER IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn is almost certain to walk free today after New York prosecutors lost faith in the sex charges against him and recommended the case be dismissed. The one-time favourite to beat Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s French presidential election could fly home as soon as this evening, barring a dramatic eleventh-hour [...]
China warns Eurozone to act on Black Death crisis August 22, 2011 CHINA has urged the Eurozone to take drastic action to restore confidence in its economy to prevent the “Black Death” of its sovereign debt crisis from damaging the world economy. Chinese state media warned that the bloc’s surging debt costs will lead to a decline in demand for exports that will have a “far-reaching impact” [...]
Icap warns it could quit EU August 22, 2011 BROKING giant Icap will quit the European Union if a financial transactions tax proposed by Germany and France takes effect across the bloc, the company’s chief executive said yesterday. “Companies like Icap will simply move elsewhere outside the EU if Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel push ahead with this silly tax,” Icap chief executive Michael [...]
There is nothing so bad that politicians can’t make it worse August 18, 2011 IT was Thomas Sowell, the American economist, who said “there is nothing so bad that politics cannot make it worse”. In recent weeks, politicians have tested that maxim to destruction. From horse-trading over the US debt ceiling to cack-handed policymaking in Europe, almost every political intervention has served only to fan existing fears over the [...]
European shares in biggest fall since March 2009 August 18, 2011 European equities have suffered their biggest daily fall in two and a half years as a slew of downbeat US data cast further doubt on the strength of the recovery in the world’s biggest economy. German shares fell 5.8 per cent, underperfoming the wider market, with traders citing the effects of a short-selling ban on [...]
Tobin tax would be suicide, report says August 17, 2011 A TAX on financial transactions would be “economic suicide” according to a study published this morning by a leading Westminster think tank. The Tobin tax, set to be tabled at the European Union in September, would drive jobs away from the City to lower-taxed parts of the world, the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) argues. The [...]
European proposal for transactions levy takes its toll on financial stocks August 17, 2011 PLANS to impose a Tobin tax across the European Union sent shares in London’s financial stocks tumbling yesterday. German chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled proposals to push for a pan-European financial transactions levy on Tuesday evening. Analysts say any such charge would hit European financial centres like the City and especially those [...]
Falling financial stocks drag FTSE lower amid euro fears August 17, 2011 Weaker financial stocks led British shares lower yeterday as the outcome of a Franco-German summit left investors still anxious about the Eurozone debt crisis and concerned about the impact of plans for a new tax on the industry. The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.5 per cent at 5,331.60, having at one stage dropped back [...]