As fear drives eurozone debt markets and economies markedly downwards, and the increased volatility makes good money for some, the underlying grievance of the Occupy Wall Street movement can now be seen mirrored clearly in the European crisis. The tension is effectively between those who believe that inequality is divisive and we should all pull together (Germany), …
Category archives: IndustryCompetition
As financial systems and economies worsen, innovation comes from an unlikely source
After some apparently good news yesterday, the news today has turned distinctly sour. As stories in the FT show: The world’s financial systems still seem to be getting worse, not better European solutions seem to be tinkering at the edges The ‘real’ economy is becoming increasingly volatile Innovation is needed
Turning the corner?
A generally upbeat set of stories in the FT this morning: The Bank of England’s executive director of financial stability has called for risk rules for lending to small businesses to be temporarily relaxed. Although counterintuitive in some ways, it would help to smooth business cycles: encouraging activity in a downturn and reducing the support given …
Daily snapshot
A eurozone recession “looks almost inevitable before the end of the year, even if the debt crisis does not intensify further”. A Treasury select committee is calling for a “radical overhaul” of the accountability and governance of the Bank of England, through the establishment of a supervisory board that would reduce the power of the governor …
Strange times
Republicans (and two Democrats) in the US Senate last week managed to block a $60bn bill to renew some of the country’s fading infrastructure (including roads, dams, bridges, energy and water systems). The reason? Funding was to have come from an additional 0.7 per cent tax on earnings over $1m.
Daily snapshot
Trends in today’s news. Financial Reform: A group of Singaporean investors have won the right to sue Morgan Stanley in the USA, claiming they were sold investment products that were designed to fail. Morgan Stanley had asked for the case to be dismissed. The investors claim that the instrument they were sold was “specifically designed …
Snapshot of today
The US Federal Reserve has cut its growth forecast for 2012 from 3.5% to 2.7%, and is still predicting low inflation, but has not reduced interest rates. People who bet that market volatility would reduce after the eurozone agreement have been caught out by Greece’s announcement of a referendum. Now that the referendum has been …
Sony warns of $1bn loss, citing Thai floods
Sony has warned that it will make a $1.2bn loss this year, having previously forecast a $0.8bn profit for the year to March. Reasons for the change include “slowing demand for consumer electronics”, the strong yen, and the floods in Thailand that have disrupted parts supplies. It says something about the accelerating impact of climate …
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Samsung beats Apple in mobile handsets
Over the last three months Samsung has passed Apple as the largest manufacturer of smartphones, shipping an estimated 27.8m handsets compared with Apple’s 17.1m (in a total market of around 117m sets). What makes this even more remarkable is that sales have increased four-fold over the past year. How has Samsung been able to do achieve …
WPP sees growth in 2012, challenges in 2013
WPP has cut its sales growth forecasts for 2011, though margins have improved (implying that costs have been cut significantly). Chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, is expecting growth of around 3%-4% in 2012 (down on 4%-6% in 2011), though 2013 may present a greater challenge “when a newly elected president will finally have to deal …
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