Brexit negotiations will cost UK £1 per person September 29, 2016 Planning for Brexit is set to cost the government £65m a year and will require at least 500 extra civil servants, a Whitehall-watching think tank has concluded. The Institute for Government (IFG) said "time and energy is being wasted on political squabbles and turf wars", and added politicians had no idea how their departments and the civil [...]
Everything you need to know about Opec’s output cut agreement September 29, 2016 Markets swung wildly this morning after Opec provisionally agreed to cut oil output for the first time since 2008, as it tries to accelerate the stricken market's recovery. What the agreement entails The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said yesterday that it would cut output to a range of 32.5-33m barrels per day. But how much each country [...]
From server rooms to boardrooms: Cyber crime issues must become top priority for UK bosses September 29, 2016 Cyber crime is big business. Attacks can come from opportunists, commercial rivals, terrorist groups, bored teenagers, organised crime and nation states. The goal could be anything from online vandalism to data theft or destabilisation. Faced with such threats, a new industry has emerged promising an array of state-of-the-art systems to keep your data and commercial [...]
Oil prices surge as Opec reaches historic deal to curb production September 28, 2016 The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has tonight reached an agreement to limit oil production in a bid to bolster prices, and it's had an immediate effect. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, has soared to $48.74 per barrel, a rise of $2.77 or six per cent. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate, its US [...]
Trumponomics is big, bold and brash – but less unorthodox than you might think September 28, 2016 Donald Trump is an undoubted political maverick. But is he an economic maverick too? The answer is yes and no. Yes he’s a maverick on trade policy, arguing for the rejection of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump has also called for a 35 [...]
Mario Draghi hits out at German MPs, German banks and ECB naysayers September 28, 2016 Mario Draghi confronted German politicians head on yesterday over their criticism of the European Central Bank (ECB)’s controversial monetary policies. In a speech to the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, before private meetings with MPs, Draghi also reiterated his calls for Eurozone countries to share the burden of stoking economic growth and insisted negative interest rates were [...]
Exports set for £20bn Brexit boost after sterling’s dramatic plunge September 28, 2016 Goods exports will jump by £20bn over the next year, cushioning the UK economy from a slowdown caused by the EU referendum, Standard and Poor's (S&P) has argued. In a new report assessing the impact of the Brexit vote on the UK and Europe, the ratings agency also stuck by its claims the UK will avoid [...]
Christine Lagarde issues hard-hitting defence of global economy September 28, 2016 The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has doubled-down on warnings against reversing the tide of globalisation. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, told a conference in Chicago this afternoon policies that restrict trade between countries and seek to protect economies from foreign competition will hit the world's poorest citizens, branding such ideas [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 28, 2016 Germany has been forced to deny reports of a possible Deutsche Bank bailout after investors abandoned the troubled bank and megabrew is on after investors voted to approve the deal. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US futures are pointing up ahead of the open, though not by [...]
Yanis Varoufakis has some advice for the UK, Theresa May and Labour September 28, 2016 Academic, EU-tormenter, former Greek finance minister and leather-jacket-wearing big thinker Yanis Varoufakis has blasted George Osborne and told the UK to get a move on with triggering Article 50. In an interview with the Today programme, Varoufakis, who resigned from the Syriza-led government last summer after he helped prime minister Alexis Tsipras take Greece to the [...]
