Chin up: four reasons to be cheerful
LIKE everyone else, we can’t help but feel depressed at the torrent of bad news that each new day brings. Crisis in the Eurozone; nightmare on the high street; jobs bloodbath in the City – the bad headlines never end. So we thought we’d reflect on some of the more positive pieces of news, which can easily slip through the cracks.
First, the UK is not Greece, Portugal, Italy or Spain. Investors actually want to buy our bonds. Yesterday, the yield on UK 10-year gilts fell as far as 2.11 per cent, touching record lows. This is in large part due to a bubble in bonds and the fact that the Bank of England keeps prices low through quantitative easing, but we’re trying to focus on the good news here.
Second, we’re not in the Eurozone, even if we’re feeling the chilling effects of its debt crisis. It’s a bit like bearing witness to a particularly horrific car crash; a distressing experience for sure, and one that could leave permanent scars – but it would be so much worse if you were actually in one of the vehicles.
Third, like most of our readers, we live in London and the surrounding areas. At the risk of sounding like Silvio Berlusconi, our restaurants are full and our high streets are still populated. For the most part, house prices in the capital are holding up. Compared to other cities, we’ve been lucky.
Fourth, rich foreigners want to live and spend their money here, as our story about prime London property shows on page 13. Even those that don’t want to buy our luxury goods (see right).
So there you have it, four – by no means exhaustive – reasons to be optimistic. Clichéd as it sounds, things could be much, much worse.
david.crow@cityam.com