Fed hikes interest rates, signalling an end to ‘accommodative’ monetary policy September 26, 2018 The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates again tonight, in an expected move which reaffirmed steady economic growth and rising employment. Policymakers have now lifted the benchmark to a range of two to 2.25 per cent, an increase of a quarter of a percentage point from its last rate hike in early August. In a [...]
At long last, economists appreciate that private debt was the catalyst for the crisis September 26, 2018 This month saw the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, a collapse which precipitated one of the only two global financial crises of the past 150 years. The late 2000s and early 1930s were the only periods in time when capitalism itself has trembled on the edge of the precipice. It was [...]
No-deal Brexit border delays could prompt wave of bankruptcies says poll September 26, 2018 Delays of even half an hour at the border in the event of a no-deal Brexit could prompt a wave of bankruptcies for firms relying on cross-border supply chains, a poll to be published today will show. As many as one in 10 British supply chain managers say their businesses could go bankrupt if [...]
Q&A: Adam Tooze on the financial crisis, Trump and Canada after Brexit September 25, 2018 Ten years after the start of the financial crisis, Columbia University historian Adam Tooze’s epic work of economic history, Crashed, describes a world still coming to terms with its aftermath. He spoke to City PM about the US, Canada, and where the next crash could come from. Why write this book [...]
Moments move markets September 25, 2018 | City Talk The last 30 years have been one of extraordinary change in terms of how financial markets and the global economy have evolved. When I first started in the City all the way back in 1988 as a “wet behind the ears” trainee trader, Canada was a very different place. From chattering [...]
Patchy regulation prevents the world from reaping the full benefits of the markets September 25, 2018 Ten years ago today, the world woke to the news that yet another bank had collapsed. Washington Mutual was the latest casualty in what became the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Those events have cast a long shadow. Governments, businesses, and households have had to tackle the legacy of that crisis. As [...]
Forget economics, immigration policy is more about our values September 25, 2018 You're probably tired of me saying it, dear reader. But a big problem with supposed “evidence-based policy” is that the conclusions we derive from evidence often take our underlying aims for granted. If we’re considering a tax cut, no evidence-base showing that it could create a positive GDP effect will convince you if your [...]
Debate: Should the City be worried about Labour’s plan to hand 10 per cent of company shares to workers? September 25, 2018 Debate: Should the City be worried about Labour’s plan to hand 10 per cent of company shares to workers? Yes – Josh Hardie is the deputy director-general at the CBI. Rising wages are what everyone wants to see. But Labour is wrong to assert that workers will be helped by their proposals. Their diktat [...]
British manufacturing output growth weakens as exports hit slowest in almost a year September 24, 2018 Growth in the British manufacturing sector slowed as exports cooled, according to data published today. Expansion in output slowed to the lowest since May in September, the survey of more than 400 major manufacturers by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed. Exports weakened to the slowest expansion since October 2017, with a balance [...]
DEBATE: Could Donald Trump’s trade war be a positive force in reining in Chinese dominance? September 24, 2018 Could Donald Trump’s trade war be a positive force in reining in Chinese dominance? Alastair Benn, news editor of Reaction, says YES. Two centuries ago, the world experienced something historians call “the Great Divergence”. Pre-nineteenth century, America, Europe, China, and India formed an equilibrium at the heart of the global economy, taking up roughly [...]
