Business and King welcome spending cuts May 12, 2010 BANK OF ENGLAND governor Mervyn King yesterday hailed the new coalition government’s plans for an immediate £6bn cut in public spending to tackle Britain’s record peacetime deficit, saying it was imperative that Britain’s fiscal problems are dealt with sooner rather than later. Breaking from his traditional silence on fiscal policy, the governor said he had [...]
Entrepreneurs sceptical of plans to help small businesses March 24, 2010 THE Government yesterday announced a range of promises designed to stimulate growth for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Its £2.5bn growth package includes a range of tax breaks and cuts in business rates as well as a commitment to the freeing up of credit. To aid what Darling calls “fledgling businesses”, as well as existing ones, [...]
FORTY YEARS ON AND WE SEEM TO HAVE LEARNED VERY FEW LESSONS May 24, 2010 WHEN you are older than God, as I am, I think you tend to become rather blasé as yet another political or financial crisis unfolds. I was 23 and working as an impecunious bank clerk at Hill Samuel (now part of Lloyds Banking Group, for the youth among you) when I was exposed to my [...]
Osborne ups the ante in job tax stand-off April 5, 2010 SHADOW chancellor George Osborne yesterday stepped up his attack on the government over plans to hike national insurance contributions (NICs), claiming the “job tax” would be the fastest way to reverse the budding economic recovery. George Osborne also insisted that the Tories have no plans for further tax rises, despite repeated claims from Labour that [...]
Merkel declares war on the speculators May 20, 2010 GERMAN chancellor Angela Merkel declared war on speculators yesterday, just hours after she threw world markets into turmoil by announcing a ban on short selling. Merkel told the Bundestag: “This challenge is existential and we have to rise to it. The euro is in danger. If we don’t deal with this danger, the consequences for [...]
Why hiking Vat will be very painful May 17, 2010 SO George Osborne has got his office for budget responsibility, tasked with auditing the public finances and producing independent economic forecasts. It is a splendid idea and a great opportunity for Sir Alan Budd, its first boss, to create a set of truly transparent national accounts. A crucial test will come with the treatment of [...]
Tories best to tackle our fiscal crisis May 5, 2010 AT first sight, there are few similarities between Greece, a tiny and desperately mismanaged economy on the fringes of Europe, and Britain, one of the world’s largest economies – and for all the Labour party’s blunders and mismanagement, still an astonishingly prosperous country. Thanks to what turned out to be virtually the only good decision [...]
Euro states to take tougher line on Greece April 25, 2010 GERMANY and France yesterday vowed to take a hard line with Greece in exchange for financial support as doubts emerged over whether a €45bn (£39.2bn) aid package was sufficient to prevent a default. Greece bowed to intense pressure from financial markets on Friday, requesting funds from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in [...]
Continuing Greek crisis means euro is still facing a long fight for its life April 8, 2010 THE blowing out of the Greek bond yields this week brings the Greek government’s debt crisis closer to boiling over. Having met its funding requirement for April, the Greek government may have a few weeks to decide on its next step. That said, with every incremental increase in Greek bond yields a decision either to [...]
Enterprise Inns slates pub aid from ministers March 31, 2010 ENTERPRISE Inns, the UK’s second-biggest pubs company, yesterday lashed out at the government for its failure to provide adequate aid to struggling publicans. Enterprise, which has over 7,000 tenanted pubs, said it noted the proposals by newly-appointed pubs minister John Healey to commit £4.3m of funding to the industry over the next three years. But [...]