China’s astonishing growth trajectory holds few lessons for democratic Britain October 21, 2013 I’VE SEEN the future and it works.” That was US journalist Lincoln Steffers’s message after visiting the Soviet Union in the 1920s. It’s worth remembering how wrong he turned out to be. Why? George Osborne and Boris Johnson have just come back from China, and they’ll be tempted to use the impressive things they’ve seen [...]
Victory for Clegg on economics as left-leaning Lib Dems fail to scupper motion September 16, 2013 Liberal Democrats have supported Nick Clegg's motion "Strengthening the UK Economy" (pages 37-39). The proposed and largely rejected changes – put forward by the left-leaning faction the Social Liberal Forum (SLF) – are below. The party leadership were happy to accept the first amendment if the first four lines of that did not pass, and [...]
New fears house bubble may undermine recovery September 9, 2013 PLANS to pump up the housing market could undo the UK’s progress towards sustained economic growth, economists warned yesterday after the chancellor welcomed the recovery. George Osborne yesterday said the return to growth vindicated his decisions to stick with the deficit reduction plans, and insisted he is working to improve living standards. Analysts praised the [...]
Stelios is set to take on budget supermarkets August 4, 2013 ON THE ground floor of a tower block in Croydon, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou plans to open the first of many low-cost supermarkets under his Easy brand. Stelios said yesterday the pilot store, at the bottom of the former Metlife building recently purchased by EasyGroup, will serve as “a low risk experiment in a new market [...]
Co-op loses control of its bank in new rescue deal October 21, 2013 THE CO-OP will lose control of its banking unit in a new deal set to be unveiled in the coming days, after investors pushed the troubled group for more of the bank’s ownership. The bank has to plug a £1.5bn capital hole, with £1bn coming from the group and £500m from hitting investors. As part [...]
Analyst reaction: GDP at 0.6 per cent in second quarter July 25, 2013 Howard Archer, chief UK & European economist, IHS Global Insight: The GDP data are very encouraging, not only showing the growth rate doubling to 0.6% quarter-on-quarter but also showing positive contributions from all sectors. While the dominant services sector remains very much key to the economy’s performance, it is important that manufacturing and construction grow [...]
Big business must support startups and help create the jobs of the future November 3, 2013 ONE of the clearest signs of a strong economy is a healthy and thriving startup and small business sector; these are the real engines of job creation and growth for any country. The US has always prided itself on a vibrant startup culture, with people from flocking from around the world to California’s Silicon Valley [...]
UK residential construction output sees fastest growth since June 2010 August 2, 2013 The UK construction industry expanded by much more than expected in July, according to the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) released by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply and Markit Economics. Construction PMI was 57.0 in July, up from 51.0 the month before (a number above 50 indicates growth, below indicates contraction). Analysts were expecting [...]
Co-Op reports major losses in its banking division August 29, 2013 The Co-Operative Group has reported major losses for the first half of the year and regulators have reaffirmed its £1.5bn capital shortfall (release). The group made £559m of pre-tax losses in the first half of the year after writing off £496m of bad loans mostly relating to Britannia Building Society, which merged with its troubled [...]
City watchdog says it already has power to claw back bank bonuses October 7, 2013 THE BANK of England has the power to confiscate bonuses years after they are paid out as a new way to punish any rogue bankers who fiddle markets, the regulator said yesterday. It means no new legislation is needed to claw back payouts up to a decade after they were paid out, and the Prudential [...]