Sanctions on Russia will hurt – but doing nothing also has a price April 23, 2014 EUROPEAN leaders were quick to say Russia’s annexation of Crimea was “unacceptable”, but mostly accepted it. Others say they know Russia is behind the violence in eastern Ukraine, but still do nothing. Talk is cheap. The real test is whether the EU will move from rhetoric to real action and impose meaningful sanctions on Russia. [...]
David Cameron’s onshoring dream is unlikely to become a reality says top economist March 11, 2014 A recent report by PwC predicted that as many as 200,000 new roles could be created over the next decade, thanks to companies that had relocated their operations outside of the UK returning, a process commonly known as onshoring. The trend of companies bringing jobs back to the UK could boost the nation's wealth by [...]
Labour to focus on smaller firms and sites in new housing plan January 12, 2014 LABOUR’S shadow housing minister Emma Reynolds will announce a new housing policy today and admit that the UK has underbuilt for the last 30 years, including under previous Labour governments. Reynolds will address the National House Building Council, where she will unveil Labour’s Build First policy, a scheme to encourage more competition in the construction [...]
House building booms as growth fuels construction February 4, 2014 BRITISH builders were still flourishing as 2014 kicked off, reporting the fastest business growth in the past six and a half years, even in January’s poor weather. Markit’s construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for last month climbed to 64.6, the highest since August 2007, just before the financial crisis. The index is now just shy [...]
Sir Philip makes market return with Mysale IPO May 29, 2014 RETAIL tycoon Sir Philip Green is set to make a return to the stock market for the first time in 22 years after Australian flash sales site Mysale confirmed its intention to float yesterday, with a value of more than £300m. The Topshop owner has bought a 25 per cent stake in Mysale for £47m [...]
We are stuck in a disastrous spiral of misplaced interventionism May 2, 2014 VICIOUS circles are the new normal in British politics. Bad, often economically illiterate, policies create poor outcomes; voters become angry; the opposition (and in some cases the government) responds with hopeless populist policies intended to alleviate the symptoms of the previous round of bad policies; the situation worsens; disenchantment with the establishment rises ever further. [...]
We are stuck in a disastrous spiral of misplaced interventionism May 1, 2014 VICIOUS circles are the new normal in British politics. Bad, often economically illiterate, policies create poor outcomes; voters become angry; the opposition (and in some cases the government) responds with hopeless populist policies intended to alleviate the symptoms of the previous round of bad policies; the situation worsens; disenchantment with the establishment rises ever further. [...]
Budget at a glance: Osborne’s plans for Britain’s economy March 19, 2014 As growth bounces back, the focus turns to reforming savings THE ECONOMY UK growth for this year is now expected to be 2.7 per cent, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said yesterday – up from its previous estimate, made in December, of 2.4 per cent GDP expansion. A year ago the OBR expected growth [...]
Sustained bank levy takes £3bn from lenders March 19, 2014 BANKS will cough up almost £3bn in bank levy payments every year for the forseeable future, as the sums on which the tax is based are re-calculated. The chancellor did not increase the rate yesterday, as he had already hiked it to 0.156 per cent of big banks’ balance sheets, the levy’s seventh rise since [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 23 April 2014 April 22, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Russian bank’s post-Crimea bond A Russian bank in the oil-rich region of Tatarstan has become the country’s first lender to issue a dollar-denominated bond since Moscow’s official annexation of Crimea and the subsequent tension with western governments. Tatfondbank, which has branches across Russia, raised $70m yesterday through a three-year bond. Numericable eyes €8.5bn [...]