Nick Clegg challenges Farage to EU debate February 20, 2014 The deputy prime minister has thrown down the gauntlet to the leader of UKIP Nigel Farage for a "public, open debate" on the UK's membership of the European Union. Speaking on his weekly LBC radio programme Nick Clegg said "If Nigel Farage is either listening or looking at this programme I hope he would take [...]
Is the Indian government copying George Osborne? February 18, 2014 A beleaguered finance minister announces his budget to his country’s parliament, trying to reduce his country’s budget deficit in the face of above-average inflation and dreary growth prospects. The scene might sound familiar to followers of British politics, but yesterday it was Indian finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram’s turn. The situation is hardly unique in [...]
Dovish Yellen lifts markets February 11, 2014 NEW FEDERAL Reserve chair Janet Yellen buoyed markets yesterday, insisting that the US jobs recovery is “far from complete” – even as the Fed tapers quantitive easing (QE) by $10bn (£6.07bn) each month. The Fed previously said it would not consider raising interest rates until unemployment dropped below 6.5 per cent, but Yellen’s comments strongly [...]
Les Matheson takes McEwan’s old job at RBS February 11, 2014 RBS’s UK retail banking arm will be run on a permanent basis by Les Matheson, the bank said yesterday. The position was held by Ross McEwan, now chief executive of the whole bank. Since that appointment Matheson has headed the unit on an interim basis. He was previously in charge of products and marketing in [...]
… as reports say China regulator asked Dimon to hire family friend February 10, 2014 CHINA’S top insurance regulator directly asked JP Morgan Chase’s chief executive Jamie Dimon to hire a family friend as a “favour,” the New York Times has reported, citing a confidential email. The latest report comes as Wall Street’s practice of hiring family and friends of China’s ruling elite continues to attract the attention of regulators. [...]
The Long View: Bill Gates is gone and the dot-com era is over: It’s only the end of the beginning February 6, 2014 AS FACEBOOK turns ten, and with Bill Gates stepping down as Microsoft chairman, it feels like something is drawing to an end. But if so, it is only the end of the technological revolution’s beginning. It is extraordinary to look back now and think how visionary both Gates and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg were: Gates saw [...]
No Diane Abbott, now is the worst time for rent controls February 5, 2014 It'd be hard to miss London's housing problems. London house prices rose by a staggering 11.6 per cent in the year to November 2013, according to ONS data. Labour MP Diane Abbott has proposed a solution: Just made a speech in Parliament on need for RENT CONTROLS #ifnotnowwhen? #londonhousingcrisis — Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) February [...]
Barclays’ chief Jenkins gives up 2013 bonus February 3, 2014 BARCLAYS’ chief executive yesterday turned down his bonus for the second year running, a week after the bank set aside another £330m to pay for legal bills and regulatory costs. The lender also raised almost £6bn from investors in the last year, and Antony Jenkins does not want to take a bonus so soon after [...]
Merkel calls for integration to end euro crisis January 29, 2014 GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday warned that the Eurozone is not out of the woods yet, and called on the troubled currency bloc to make a “quantum leap” in order to escape its economic crisis for good. Warning of “deceptive calm” surrounding the Eurozone, Merkel used her state of the nation address to urge further [...]
The grave crises facing Putin’s Russia lay bare its fundamental weaknesses January 28, 2014 CHAOS in Kiev must feel uncomfortably close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian parliament yesterday annulled laws that sought to clear the streets of protesters against Ukraine’s increasingly authoritarian pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine’s prime minister and government have quit, and the country stands perilously on the edge of deeper conflict – prompted initially [...]