IMF steps up attacks on Donald Trump and issues fresh Brexit warning October 4, 2016 Political risks are the greatest threat to the world economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today, in a thinly veiled attack on US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump. In its half-yearly economic outlook, the Fund downgraded its outlook for the world's largest economies over the next two years and warned a growing backlash against trade, [...]
Brexiteer MP Steve Baker expects the UK to retain almost all of its current trade arrangements with the EU October 4, 2016 The UK should be able to retain “virtually all” of its current trade arrangements with the EU, according to Treasury Select Committee member and Brexit campaigner Steve Baker. Speaking to City A.M. at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, Baker said the UK would be boosted by a raft of elections across Europe in the [...]
Nobel Prize for Physics awarded to British scientists who revealed “secrets of exotic matter” October 4, 2016 The 2016 Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to a trio of British scientists for revealing "the secrets of exotic matter". David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and John Kosterlitz all made theoretical discoveries using an advanced branch of mathematics known as topology, and "opened the door to an unknown world where matter can assume strange states", the Nobel Prize committee for physics said [...]
Hey big spender: These countries spend the most on business trips to the UK October 4, 2016 Business trips are expensive, there are no two ways about it. From hotels, actually travelling to and from another country and the ever-growing list of expenses (including the £142 in unclaimed expenses that gets lost on each trip), the bills all add up. But when it comes to countries that undertake business trips to the [...]
US ends Syria ceasefire talks with Russia as Assad regime bombs Aleppo October 4, 2016 The US has ended negotiations with Russia concerning the ceasefire agreement with Syria, it said today. A peace plan that was announced last month deteriorated after Russia decided on Monday that it will ditch an agreement with the US to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium. The US State Department said Russia was "unwilling or unable" to convince [...]
Fitch issues latest warning on economic damage of protectionism October 3, 2016 The US is set to grow at its slowest pace since the financial crisis this year, as the global economy falters in the face of historically loose monetary policy and the rise of protectionist forces. Ratings agency Fitch is the latest to flag concerns over the lacklustre performance of the world's largest economy, with a hefty downgrade [...]
Forget Hard or Soft – Theresa May is right to back a Clean Brexit October 3, 2016 Defining the language of politics is crucial if you want to influence the outcome of events. That is why the Prime Minister is not allowing herself to be bounced into settling for either a “Hard” or a “Soft” Brexit. These seemingly innocent and succinct terms offer a great advantage to broadcasters and headline writers, but [...]
Election fears get the better of US manufacturers as output stumbles October 3, 2016 The US manufacturing industry is growing at one of its slowest paces in two years, according to new data out this afternoon. The news comes as the world's largest economy approaches both the hotly-anticipated US Presidential Election and the next interest rate rise from the Federal Reserve. The manufacturing sector scored 51.5 on the closely-watched [...]
Japan’s imaginative monetary policy is putting banks in danger October 3, 2016 Fitch has sounded alarm bells over the health of Japanese banks in the face of the latest tinkering with monetary policy from the Bank of Japan (BoJ). The ratings agency said it was worried the BoJ's increasingly unconventional approach to managing the country's cash supply could lead to "unintended consequences" for the financial sector as the [...]
The number of people living in extreme poverty has hit a record low October 3, 2016 Fewer people than ever before are living in extreme poverty, a new report from the World Bank has found. The institution found more than 100 million people climbed above the poverty line between 2012 and 2013 as strong growth in China and Asia boosted incomes in some of the world's poorest people. An estimated 767m [...]