Inflation: an undemocratic stealth tax October 18, 2011 INFLATION is taxation without legislation, as Milton Friedman, the Nobel prize winning economist, once said. He was spot on. Yesterday’s figures were truly appalling: inflation on the retail price index measure hit 5.6 per cent, the fastest rate for 20 years. On the official consumer price index measure, it reached 5.2 per cent. Over the [...]
BBVA sees impairments rise in Spanish business October 26, 2011 SPAIN’S second biggest lender, BBVA, saw profits drop and impairments in its core Spanish business rise in yesterday’s third-quarter results. The bank also gained market share in mortgages, increasing its exposure to the country’s troubled property market. Group pre-tax profits dropped by 21.2 per cent to €4.15bn (£3.61bn), while in Spain pre-tax earnings lost a [...]
BBVA sees impairments rise in Spanish business October 26, 2011 SPAIN’S second biggest lender, BBVA, saw profits drop and impairments in its core Spanish business rise in yesterday’s third-quarter results. The bank also gained market share in mortgages, increasing its exposure to the country’s troubled property market. Group pre-tax profits dropped by 21.2 per cent to €4.15bn (£3.61bn), while in Spain pre-tax earnings lost a [...]
RENT November 17, 2011 HEAD OF RENTALS AT AYLESFORD INTERNATIONAL Q.I believe the agent letting my house is overvaluing it. I’ve compared my property to other similar houses on the market and they all are significantly cheaper. Should I change agent? A.It is important to keep a dialogue with your agent who will be able to tell you why [...]
RENT November 17, 2011 HEAD OF RENTALS AT AYLESFORD INTERNATIONAL Q.I believe the agent letting my house is overvaluing it. I’ve compared my property to other similar houses on the market and they all are significantly cheaper. Should I change agent? A.It is important to keep a dialogue with your agent who will be able to tell you why [...]
Households struggling as prices rocket October 23, 2011 THE SQUEEZE on Britons’ finances is showing no sign of relaxing, according to a downbeat report by Markit, released this morning, thanks to job losses and soaring prices. The outlook for household finances plummeted to its lowest level for six months, Markit’s index has shown. The measure of people’s expectations for their finances over the [...]
FED ADDS AN EXTRA TWIST TO STIMULUS September 21, 2011 THE FEDERAL Reserve under Ben Bernanke (pictured)announced two new “twists” to its efforts to stimulate the ailing US economy last night, yet stopped short of declaring another phase of quantitative easing. “There are significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets,” the Fed said in a bid to justify its latest intervention. [...]
FED ADDS AN EXTRA TWIST TO STIMULUS September 21, 2011 THE FEDERAL Reserve under Ben Bernanke (pictured)announced two new “twists” to its efforts to stimulate the ailing US economy last night, yet stopped short of declaring another phase of quantitative easing. “There are significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets,” the Fed said in a bid to justify its latest intervention. [...]
Easy credit may teach hard economic lessons October 31, 2011 ONE thing about public opinion I fail to understand is this: people understand that easy credit was a cause of the financial crisis, so why are policies that make credit easier popular? George Osborne’s credit easing plans for small businesses are noble in that these firms are indeed the lifeblood of the economy. But it [...]
House price rises limited to the south October 16, 2011 HOUSE prices in the south are now over twice as high as elsewhere in England and Wales, according to asking prices collated by Rightmove. Asking prices in southern regions have shot up by 4.7 per cent this month, wedging an even bigger gap between housing costs in the south compared to further north. In London [...]