What the Eastleigh result tells us about the future of British politics March 7, 2013 THE Eastleigh by-election gave us a clear indication of what is likely to happen in 2015. True, the politicians and pundits have made some confusing noise – inevitable since Thursday’s result provided triumph for no party, but genuine comfort for them all. The Conservatives did not fall to crisis levels, and could theoretically recover enough [...]
World’s richest added to their wealth in 2012 March 7, 2013 MEXICAN telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has consolidated his position as the world’s richest man, adding $4bn (£2.65bn) to his family’s fortune in the last year, according to the latest Forbes list of billionaires. Slim, whose wealth has grown through his various mobile phone, financial and industrial companies, is now $6bn richer than the second [...]
Drop in migration is bad for Britain’s economic growth March 2, 2013 WEDNESDAY’S GDP figures confirmed that the UK economy shrank in the last quarter of 2012 – in large part because of the weakness of exports. So the government’s strategy of generating growth by rebalancing the economy towards investment (which is also weak) and exports is far from on track. But the government is at least [...]
New chair for Kazakhmys as earnings drop March 2, 2013 LONDON-LISTED Kazakh miner Kazakhmys posted a more than 30 per cent drop in 2012 core profit yesterday, excluding the impact of its share in rival ENRC, as weak prices hit revenue and failed to offset rising costs. The miner, which owns 26 per cent of rival ENRC, also said it might have to write down [...]
Shrinking populations will force nations to compete harder March 2, 2013 In the long run, Keynes used to say, we are all dead, meaning that we should care about fixing today’s problems regardless of any side-effects temporary solutions – such as increased borrowing – might eventually saddle us with. Like many of Keynes’ other soundbites, this one feels clever and self-evidently true – but in fact [...]
How a finance masters could land you a job February 27, 2013 Just don’t expect it to do all the work DEMAND for masters in finance graduates is rising. According to the latest data from the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), 39 per cent of employers will be looking to hire one this year, up from 32 per cent in 2012. And as competition for roles heats [...]
Bernanke has considered negative interest rates February 27, 2013 During questioning at the House Financial Services Committee today, Democrat representative Gregory Meeks asked Fed chairman Ben Bernanke if he had considered zero or negative interest rates. Bernanke said that nominal negative interest rates as a policy was on the table and is an idea that is "discussed periodically" but that the stimulatory effects of [...]
Bernanke soothes US markets February 27, 2013 In the second day of testimonies, Fed chairman Bernanke's remarks are considered less important. However, they do appear to have had some impact on markets as the VIX (a measure of volatility in US markets) has moved downwards during this session before the House Committee. (Source: Yahoo! Finance) Former candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination, [...]
Yahoo’s end to working from home may backfire February 27, 2013 Over at Slate, Matthew Yglesias suggests that Yahoo president Marissa Mayer may not be against working from home per se, but is attempting to cleanly lay off low productivity workers: You think you have some reason to believe that the full-time workers from home on the Yahoo staff are a disproportionately low-productivity cohort. Announcing this [...]
Standard Chartered looks to buy wealth management unit February 27, 2013 Standard Chartered is rumoured to be in talks to buy Morgan Stanley's Indian private wealth management unit according to Reuters sources. The unit manages approximately $1 billion including loans. It was not immediately clear what the price tag might be, but one of the sources said wealth management units in India get bids at 1.5 percent to [...]