Why the public rejects car firm bailouts May 31, 2009 WE are almost there. Barring a last minute hiccup, General Motors (GM) will enter into bankruptcy today. Like Chrysler, it will be using section 363 of the US code, which ought to allow it to reemerge in a few months having shed assets, liabilities and shareholders, and with the government owning the bulk of the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 31, 2009 THE SUNDAYSTHE SUNDAY TIMES SKY SAYS NO TO SETANTASports organisations including the Scottish Premier League may be forced to stomach deeper-than-expected cuts to their TV income after shareholders in Setanta failed to stump up enough cash to keep the broadcaster alive. Setanta’s financial position was so parlous this weekend that it asked arch-rival BSkyB for [...]
Sterling’s long decline comes to an end May 27, 2009 IT may seem strange given the dire state of Britain’s public finances but sterling is starting to regain some of its strength, especially against the dollar. Yesterday the pound rose above $1.60 for the first time in seven months, boosted by better services sector sentiment and mortgage approvals. Sterling is now trading well above its [...]
The worst may be over, but the UK’s return to growth could be painful May 25, 2009 THE WORST is now over for the UK economy, but the path back to growth will be slow and painful, according to an increasing number of economists. While last week’s GDP figures confirmed the UK economy shrank 1.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the previous quarter – its sharpest [...]
REALITY CHECK AS UK DEFICIT SOARS May 21, 2009 TENTATIVE signs of a recovery in the UK economy were dramatically overshadowed yesterday when credit ratings agency S&P downgraded its outlook on UK debt and the scale of the crisis in the public finances was laid bare. S&P lowered its outlook on the UK’s prized AAA credit rating to “negative” from “stable”, giving a one [...]
A catastrophe made in Downing Street May 21, 2009 WE are moving ever closer to the day of reckoning. As if another set of dreadful public finance figures yesterday wasn’t enough, the markets were also rattled by S&P’s decision to cut the outlook for the UK’s sovereign credit rating from stable to negative. Years of fiscal profligacy during the boom years are finally catching [...]
A catastrophe made in Downing Street May 21, 2009 WE are moving ever closer to the day of reckoning. As if another set of dreadful public finance figures yesterday wasn’t enough, the markets were also rattled by S&P’s decision to cut the outlook for the UK’s sovereign credit rating from stable to negative. Years of fiscal profligacy during the boom years are finally catching [...]
Q & A : WHAT DOES S&P’S DECISION MEAN FOR THE UK May 21, 2009 Q. WHAT EXACTLY HAS STANDARD & POOR’S DONE?A. It has downgraded its rating on Britain’s AAA rating, to “negative” from “stable”. Q. WHAT IS MEANT BY AN OUTLOOK DEFINITION?A. An S&P rating outlook assesses the potential direction in which a rating will move over the next six months to two years. “Negative” means it may [...]
Q & A : WHAT DOES S&P’S DECISION MEAN FOR THE UK May 21, 2009 Q. WHAT EXACTLY HAS STANDARD & POOR’S DONE?A. It has downgraded its rating on Britain’s AAA rating, to “negative” from “stable”. Q. WHAT IS MEANT BY AN OUTLOOK DEFINITION?A. An S&P rating outlook assesses the potential direction in which a rating will move over the next six months to two years. “Negative” means it may [...]
Pay cuts loom as prices fall to 61-year low May 19, 2009 AN ESTIMATED 80 per cent of workers face the prospect of a pay freeze or cut, after the measure of inflation used for the majority of wage settlements plunged last month. The Retail Prices Index (RPI), which is used for workers’ wage settlements and includes mortgage and rent payments, shrank to -1.2 per cent year-on-year [...]