CAMERON WARNS OF EMERGENCY BUDGET November 22, 2009 AN incoming Conservative government plans to hold an “emergency budget” to tackle the country’s record budget deficit within 50 days if it wins the next general election. Tory leader David Cameron said yesterday that the emergency budget would be about “about getting the deficit under control”. “But it should also be a budget that goes [...]
High earners set to be hit by new taxes December 1, 2009 FOR those bankers who had become a tad complacent, I have some news for you: the Tories are still not ruling out a windfall tax on banks if their behaviour doesn’t conform to what is expected of them on pay and lending. I asked Mark Hoban, a key member of George Osborne’s shadow treasury team, [...]
New bonus rules won’t achieve anything November 15, 2009 SPIN is an effective device to con the public but only in the short-term – eventually, the truth tends to prevail. Take the flagship economic component of Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech, which Her Majesty will have to read out to Parliament. As we report on page 1, the government will introduce its much-trailed law to formalise [...]
The Queen’s Speech starts election race November 18, 2009 THE government yesterday laid down battle lines for the next general election with a politically charged Queen’s Speech that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats dismissed as “pointless”. The legislative programme outlined by the Queen in the House of Lords contained moves including a widely-expected Financial Services Bill, which will allow regulators to veto bankers’ bonuses [...]
EU: UK GDP to beat eurozone for two years November 3, 2009 EUROPE’S economy will rebound next year from a deep slump and accelerate in 2011, the European Commission said yesterday, paving the way for major budget deficit cuts across the 27-nation bloc from 2011 at the latest. Brussels cut its forecast for the UK economy in 2009 but said that growth in 2010 and 2011 would [...]
Geithner set to scale back bank support September 10, 2009 US TREASURY secretary Timothy Geithner said yesterday that Obama’s administration could end some of the extraordinary support it has put in place for the markets, and start to prepare for a slow recovery as the economy begins to strengthen. Speaking to the Congressional Oversight Panel for the $700bn (£420bn) Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp), Geithner [...]
TORIES MULL TAX ON BAILED-OUT BANKS October 7, 2009 A TORY government would consider a “windfall” tax on UK banks that have received state support, in an apparent sign of shadow chancellor George Osborne’s willingness to play hardball with the City. One possibility for the tax, currently being discussed at the highest levels within the party, would take the shape of a new accounting [...]
TURNAROUND IN GREENBACK SOME WAY OFF November 8, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMTHERE has been a lot written in the last few days about the potential for a period of consolidation in the prices of many asset classes over the next three months. The earnings performance of many US companies in the third quarter didn’t quite meet forecasts, while consumers remain under pressure from [...]
Reshuffle at France Tel due to suicides October 5, 2009 FRANCE Telecom yesterday appointed a new leader of its French business to calm a political firestorm over a spate of employee suicides and extended its freeze on restructuring until the end of the year. Stephane Richard, a former top aide of France’s economy minister who is being groomed as next chief executive of the former [...]
Real’s rise cannot be stopped by inflows tax October 27, 2009 SINCE 2007, we have been repeatedly told that the US dollar needs to weaken in order to rectify the global imbalances that were, at least partially, to blame for the economic downturn. But not everybody has welcomed the greenback’s recent decline. European officials have already been making noises about how the strength of the euro [...]