Extinction Rebellion climate change protesters want to destroy the UK’s financial sector May 1, 2019 The founder of Extinction Rebellion has ambitions to upend the UK’s financial system after her organisation targeted the City in two weeks of London protests. Gail Bradbrook wants to provoke a “mass refusal” to pay off loans and mortgages in a bid to throw London’s financial district into disarray following action that saw climate change [...]
Confidence in UK among European business leaders has collapsed due to Brexit, says survey April 30, 2019 The confidence of European business chiefs in the UK economy has evaporated due to Brexit, causing them to slash their investment intentions, a new report by investment bank Credit Suisse has revealed. Read more: Investors withdrew savings from UK funds in lead up to Brexit deadline Over 65 per cent of European business leaders said [...]
European Central Bank hikes supervision fees by 21 per cent as Brexit takes financial toll April 30, 2019 The European Central Bank (ECB) today increased supervisory fees by 21 per cent as it seeks to cover higher than expected costs to prepare for Brexit. Read more: Euro falls as ECB chief Draghi bearish on Eurozone economy The hike amounts to an estimated €576m charge on banks this year, up from €502.2m in 2018, as a [...]
Euro rises as Eurozone economy shows stronger-than-expected growth in first quarter April 30, 2019 The Eurozone economy achieved faster-than-expected growth in the first quarter of the year, marking a pick-up from its lacklustre performance at the end of 2018, official statistics have revealed. Read more: Euro falls as ECB chief Draghi bearish on Eurozone economy Economic growth in the currency area was 0.4 per cent in the first quarter [...]
Italy escapes recession but still lags behind rest of Europe April 30, 2019 Italy has dragged itself out of recession with economic growth of 0.2 per cent in the first quarter, the country’s statistics organisation said today. Read more: Eurozone economy shows stronger-than-expected growth in first quarter The quarterly figures mean the Eurozone’s third-largest economy limped to an annual growth rate of 0.1 per cent. Italy’s economy shrunk [...]
Incentives are needed to fix our broken social care system April 30, 2019 If I could choose just one phrase to sum up what politicians and civil servants need to know – the single maxim that should be tattooed on the insides of their eyelids – it would be this: “People respond to incentives.” It’s such a simple idea. But it’s extraordinarily powerful. Whenever something in government – [...]
Consumer confidence remains steady amid Brexit carry-on, survey shows April 30, 2019 Britons were more positive about the future economic situation in April than they were in March, but are putting off major purchases amid financial and political uncertainty, a new study has today shown. Read more: CBI: UK retailers enjoy rising sales for the first time in five months Meanwhile, fewer people in the UK were positive [...]
Labour policies will represent ‘revolution’ for UK economy says John McDonnell April 29, 2019 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Labour will unleash an economic “revolution” if it wins power. The Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, who has previously named Soviet revolutionaries Lenin and Trotsky as key intellectual influences, told the BBC he saw parallels with 1979 when Margaret Thatcher swept to power. "Things aren't working for people, so they're [...]
A new book about austerity has put Keynesian economists on the defensive April 29, 2019 Notoriously, economists quarrel about almost everything in their subject. But since the publication of John Maynard Keynes’ General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money in 1936, they are supposed to agree on one point: that increases in government spending boost demand and output, and reductions in government spending depress them. Indeed, according to the theory, a [...]
Dark clouds gather as one-sixth of British businesses struggle financially April 29, 2019 Nearly a sixth of British businesses are in financial trouble, amid concerns the UK could suffer a wide-ranging economic slowdown in the coming months, according to research. Read more: Natwest increases small business loan programme amid Brexit uncertainty A report by a leading insolvency firm has revealed there are 484,000 UK firms in “significant financial [...]