It’s maddening that investment charges are still so complicated November 18, 2014 THIS week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has come under pressure to implement more stringent measures on the way investments are managed, particularly when it comes to communicating fees to customers and improving the overall transparency of charges. But this is all backward. It should be companies leading the charge for transparency, because that’s what [...]
Wage growth is back with a bang as unemployment falls below 7pc April 16, 2014 Perhaps finally an ease to consumer budgets, and a chance that the "cost of living crisis" meme may start to fade away. For the first time since July 2009, the Office for National Statistics' measure of average earnings growth may now exceed headline inflation. Yesterday saw headline consumer price inflation fall to a four and [...]
Johnson defends London and foreign investment in property October 15, 2014 LONDON mayor Boris Johnson yesterday stood up for foreign investment into London, dispelling claims that they were in part to blame for the property crisis as “absolute rubbish”. One of the developments Johnson may have had in mind was the Qatar-backed Shard when he spoke at Mipim UK, the inaugural property trade show in London’s [...]
Real wages may rise, but earnings are still set for a lost decade April 15, 2014 This morning’s official figures confirmed another drop in inflation, with consumer prices rising by only 1.6 per cent in the year to February, the lowest in four and a half years. Average weekly earnings rose 1.7 per cent in the year to January, with private sector earnings up 1.9 per cent, and even stronger growth [...]
Lloyds boss calls for easier rules to fix Britain’s housing crisis October 21, 2014 TENS OF thousands more homes should be built each year to ease the UK’s housing crisis, Lloyds boss Antonio Horta Osorio said last night – and the government should take the lead by building on under-used Ministry of Defence land. The bank is setting up a new fund, starting with £50m, to help finance construction [...]
Which UK industry has been left out of the rise in zero hours contracts? April 30, 2014 Businesses in the UK's financial industry are the least likely to make us of zero hours contracts, according to figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The proportion of businesses in the finance sector using zero hours contracts, which do not guarantee a minimum number of hours of work, came to just seven [...]
Bank of England deputy governor Minouche Shafik: Finance is stronger now October 27, 2014 Huge fines and revelations about some bankers’ bad behaviour in years gone by is obscuring recent progress made in cleaning up the industry, Bank of England deputy governor Minouche Shafik said last night. Shafik has launched a nine-month review into fixed income, currency and commodities markets, looking at every aspect from the way securities are [...]
Labour’s rent control plans would be a nightmare for tenants May 6, 2014 AS PART of its campaign against the “cost of living crisis”, Labour has stepped up with an offer to help struggling renters. Sadly, at best its proposals are a non-solution, and at worst a nightmare for tenants. The rent regulation that Ed Miliband plans to introduce would see three-year rental contracts become the norm, during [...]
Labour’s rent control plans would be a nightmare for tenants May 6, 2014 AS PART of its campaign against the “cost of living crisis”, Labour has stepped up with an offer to help struggling renters. Sadly, at best its proposals are a non-solution, and at worst a nightmare for tenants. The rent regulation that Ed Miliband plans to introduce would see three-year rental contracts become the norm, during [...]
Tax cuts and deregulation: How free markets can slash the cost of living September 25, 2014 Rolling back state intervention across the economy and cutting taxes could save some families up to £7,800 a year, according to a new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). The free market think tank has produced the report as part of it's 2020 Vision initiative, which provides a host of publications and films [...]