Shooting the messenger: Rent controls have always and everywhere ended in failure September 14, 2016 Rent controls are back on the political agenda. Their reintroduction is now official Labour Party policy, and the Conservatives will probably follow with a somewhat milder version in due course. It is easy to see why: according to a recent Survation poll, two thirds of the public support rent controls, with most of the remaining [...]
It’s been a bumper year for stock markets – but how good was 2016 really? December 20, 2016 “Some investors have quipped that it took days for the markets to digest the UK referendum outcome, hours to come to terms with Donald Trump as President-Elect and minutes to assess Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s resignation,” Mark Haefele, global chief investment officer at UBS Wealth Management, told clients last week. It has been a [...]
How did the political world react to the Supreme Court’s Article 50 verdict? January 24, 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May's top lawyer has had his say on today's Supreme Court ruling, and Brexit secretary David Davis is due to make a statement to the House of Commons later today. But what about the rest of the political world? Read More: Live: Government loses Article 50 appeal Labour Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that his party will not [...]
The government is facing cross party condemnation after Theresa May refused to guarantee MPs a vote on Brexit October 12, 2016 Theresa May's government has been hit with condemnation from MPs across political parties after the Prime Minister refused to guarantee a parliamentary vote on Brexit. Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, May suggested that, despite a concession on today's debate to support proper scrutiny of Brexit talks, a vote in parliament remains unlikely. Noting opportunities for MPs [...]
We asked economists what they want from Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Statement November 21, 2016 During the rapid post-Brexit shuffle at the top of UK politics many a word was spoken in haste, and perhaps none more so than confident predictions that Philip Hammond would put paid to George Osborne’s austerity politics with a bold return to Keynesian government investment. That might have been a bit rash, but it demonstrates [...]
As the Prime Minister vows to publish her plan for Brexit before invoking Article 50, will this affect the final deal? December 8, 2016 Rachel Cunliffe, deputy editor at Reaction, says Yes. There are two sides to any negotiation, and as you might have noticed, the EU is the larger and more powerful player in the Brexit battle. But the UK still has cards to play, most notably with its contributions to the EU budget, its position as the [...]
Brexit buffer: Mark Carney pushes to stay in Single Market until at least 2021 November 27, 2016 Mark Carney is working on plans for a Brexit buffer period, to allow the UK to stay in the Single Market for at least two years after leaving the EU. Many in the City have voiced concerns their businesses are facing a cliff edge after the UK leaves the EU, where rights currently enjoyed would be [...]
Should investors brace themselves for a big stock market fall if Donald Trump wins the US election? November 1, 2016 Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault, says Yes. If a friend is now waking up after missing 2016 in a coma, bring them up to speed gently: start with Leicester winning the Premier League at 5000-to-one. The UK’s vote to leave the EU was discounted even by its leading proponents right until the morning of [...]
Italian senate signs off on 2017 budget, clearing the way for PM Renzi to resign December 7, 2016 Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will hand in his resignation today at 6pm London time, it has been reported, after the country's parliament approved Italy's 2017 budget. Renzi was earlier in the week asked to stay on until after the budget was passed by Italy's president Sergio Mattarella. The 41-year-old Italian premier promised to quit [...]
Going where no market has gone before: Dow Jones and S&P 500 scale new heights on Black Friday November 25, 2016 Most of the US population might be out beating each other to a pulp to get at Black Friday deals – but traders were on more of a share-buying frenzy, sending two of the US' blue chip indexes to record highs. The Dow Jones jumped more than 50 points to 19,143.9 points in early trading in [...]