Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister, is expected to tell his party conference today that Britain can invest its way out of the downturn. However, it is proving difficult to identify projects that can be started quickly, and the government is hampered by its need to cut spending on existing activities. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cff32134-e3b7-11e0-bd3d-00144feabdc0.html At the same time …
Category archives: Economic
Shift to the east
At least three stories in today’s FT have this theme: Alan Lewis, the millionaire property and retail entrepreneur, has put the Tommy Nutter brand up for sale. Tommy Nutter made three of the suits worn by The Beatles on the cover of Abbey Road, as well as the suit that Mick Jagger wore to his …
Why are gold mines down?
The price of gold has risen by over 25% this year, yet mining stocks are in the doldrums. Why? “It is something everybody is thinking about at the moment”, says the manager of one of the largest gold funds. Prices of gold and mines have diverged in the past but the mining stocks have always …
How the eurozone crisis affects businesses
Two weeks ago Siemens withdrew over €500m from a ‘large French bank’, and deposited it with the European Central Bank. Partly this may be because the ECB is paying a higher interest rate (which surely means more risk?). But it seems more likely that Siemens fears there is a significant risk that the ‘large French …
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Reimagining the economy
In this talk Tim Jackson examines the current economic crisis and finds that the solution isn’t about “curtailing possibilities”: “It’s about opening up: about allowing ourselves the freedom to become fully human, recognising the breath and the depth of the human psyche, and building institutions to protect [that]. … And at the heart… a more credible, …
A return to gold as money
Central banks in Europe and emerging market countries have been buying more gold. Globally, central banks are “set to buy more gold this year than at any time since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, 40 years ago.” But, apparently, their purchases are “minuscule compared with the size of the global gold market” — …
“Greece should default and abandon the euro”
Here’s one solution to the eurozone crisis: Greece defaults and leaves the eurozone, returning to the drachma, enabling it to weaken its currency to compensate for any future lack of competitiveness (or strengthen in response to excess competitiveness). Existing creditors of the Greek government form an orderly queue and negotiate the existing debts. And holidays …
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Bank of America plans to axe 10,000 jobs
A brief post this one. Bank of America has said that it will cut 10,000 jobs (10.5% of its workforce) in the first phase of its restructuring plan. This will save the company $5bn per year. Why comment on this? It is surely a normal thing to do? Well, yes. And so it is interesting …
New paradigm needed, II
Following our post yesterday on how we need a new paradigm for business, it was interesting to read George Magnus (“the man who predicted the sub-prime crisis”) writing in the FT today saying almost the same thing” “Put simply, the economic model that drove the long boom from the 1980s to 2008, has broken down.” He …
August markets crash — new paradigm needed
In August this year, stock markets around the world crashed. Two big reasons for this were quoted by the Guardian’s Larry Elliott on 5 August. For Gavyn Davies writing in the FT, other factors were key.