Eurozone’s bank sector is facing a wintry new year December 18, 2011 IT’S hard to be optimistic about European banks: they are operating in a highly volatile economic environment that still seems a recipe for trouble ahead. To start with, take rising capital requirements and mix with new liquidity standards. Then add in constrained economic growth alongside the need for future restructuring and significant cost cutting. Combined, [...]
This sorry RBS saga isn’t over yet January 30, 2012 THERE can be no doubt that the worst decision Stephen Hester ever made was to join a bankrupt and freshly nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland in November 2008. On the face of it, the mission he was given by the Labour government was exciting and vitally important: to turn around, drastically downsize and prepare for [...]
This sorry RBS saga isn’t over yet January 29, 2012 THERE can be no doubt that the worst decision Stephen Hester ever made was to join a bankrupt and freshly nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland in November 2008. On the face of it, the mission he was given by the Labour government was exciting and vitally important: to turn around, drastically downsize and prepare for [...]
Quick reform in Spanish sights November 13, 2011 MARIANO Rajoy, leader of the People’s Party which is expected to win next Sunday’s Spanish general election, has called for swift labour market and fiscal reforms to be implemented. He aims to pass a budget stability law to build on September’s constitutional ammendment which limits the public deficit and debt, aimed at instilling investor confidence. [...]
UK growth rate revised upwards December 22, 2011 UK GDP growth has been revised up to 0.6 per cent from 0.5 per cent. The annual rate of growth remained unrevised at 0.5 per cent, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Analysts said Thursday’s figures did not change their view that the economy was set for a sharp slowdown due [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 7, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES BOMBARDIER JOBS BELIEVED SAFE Workers at the UK’s last train maker are expected to hear this week that their jobs are safe, ending months of uncertainty about the future of the factory in Derby. Its owner, Bombardier, put the future of the site under review in the middle of last year, after the [...]
Five ways to get the UK economy back in the black November 28, 2011 IT’S time for the UK to get real. The country is deeply in debt. The coalition made deficit reduction the prime aim of its governing agreement. It was a great idea then. It is a great idea now. It needs delivery. First, let’s be bold with the banks. The UK private sector needs easier access [...]
FACT CHECKER | WITH TIM WALLACE November 16, 2011 THE CLAIM: EURO CRISIS CAUSED JOB LOSSES “WHAT we are seeing are the consequences of the crisis in the Eurozone,” said minister of state for employment Chris Grayling, commenting on the news that unemployment hit a 15-year high between July and September. Labour’s shadow chancellor Ed Balls disagreed. “It’s not true,” he said. “Our recovery was [...]
Buffett secretly bought up a $10bn stake in IBM November 14, 2011 THE SAGE of Omaha has staked his biggest ever bet on the technology sector after amassing at 5.5 per cent stake in IBM worth $10.7bn (£6.71bn). Warren Buffett, one of the most respected and revered investors in the US, has historically shunned the sector on the grounds he does not understand it. However, he said yesterday [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 17, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SURGE SEEN IN SELF-EMPLOYMENT A surge in self-employment is the result of people doing part-time odd jobs to avoid unemployment rather than a genuine increase in entrepreneurial zeal, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The self-employed have risen by 300,000 since spring 2008 to 4.14m – the highest since records [...]