Ouch: Eurozone inflation misses expectations as unemployment sticks at five-year low August 31, 2016 We're not angry, we're just disappointed. Eurozone inflation stayed decidedly flat in August, rising just 0.2 per cent during the month – missing expectations of a rise to 0.3 per cent. It's a mark of quite how quiet the City is that it had almost no effect on the euro, which held steady at $1.1147 [...]
UK family disposable incomes reached new high in month after Brexit vote August 31, 2016 Average disposable income across the UK reached a new high in July, helping families "shrug off much of the post-Brexit concern that has plagued businesses and financial markets". Families have experienced a 1.9 per cent increase in earnings since July last year, with disposable income reaching £202 a week, according to Asda’s Income Tracker. However, Asda [...]
Brussels and Washington DC must end this silly standoff over taxes and fines August 31, 2016 Transatlantic relations were hardly flourishing even before Apple was slammed with a €13,000,000,000 tax bill by the European Commission yesterday. Such is the awkward standoff between Washington DC and Brussels that the move was pre-empted in America last week, with the US Treasury accusing the EC of becoming a “supranational tax authority”. The tax tiff [...]
Consumer confidence jumped up last month as shoppers refused to stay indoors during the summer heat August 31, 2016 Consumer confidence has bounced back from a post-referendum dip, with Brits determined to “carry on shopping” in August. The closely-watched GfK consumer confidence index rose by five points in August, up from minus 12 in July to minus seven – with all the measures used to compile the index going up. Respondents' confidence about the general economy improved [...]
Is Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz right that Europe may have to abandon the euro to save the European project? August 30, 2016 Ruth Lea, economic adviser at Arbuthnot Banking Group, says Yes. Granted, some may regard the common currency as an intrinsic part of the “European project”, but the euro is undermining the very foundations of a prosperous and peaceful union for all its members, which is surely what the European project is fundamentally about. And it is [...]
Eurozone economic sentiment fell to a five-month low in August after June’s Brexit vote August 30, 2016 Economic sentiment among the 19 members of the Eurozone fell during August to its lowest level since March, according to new EU data. The European Commission's Eurozone Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) fell to 103.5 over the past month, from 104.5 in July – well below the 104.1 forecast by a Reuters poll of economists. Confidence was [...]
Ireland “profoundly disagrees” with the EU’s Apple ruling August 30, 2016 Ireland's finance minister has said he "disagrees profoundly" with the verdict handed down from the EU in its Apple tax probe. Brussels has told Ireland to recover up to €13bn (£1.1bn) in back taxes from the tech giant for breaching rules on state aid. Michael Noonan said the country maintains that all tax due has [...]
Dithering on airport capacity is choking British businesses, Theresa May needs to take urgent action August 30, 2016 The decision on whether to construct a new runway in the south east of England has been parked for too long. That cannot remain the case for much longer – a lack of airport capacity in the south east is acting a major constraint upon business and economic growth. Business leaders have become increasingly exasperated [...]
Emerging markets have enjoyed a real comeback, but as expectations of another Fed rate hike grow, can it last long? August 30, 2016 At the beginning of the year, things looked dismal for emerging markets. Investor optimism had soured over the previous three to four years, thanks to a cocktail of tumbling commodity prices, a strong dollar and a Chinese slowdown which had shaken confidence in the sustainability of their growth. Nine months later, and the mood has shifted [...]
London areas dominate list of fastest growing economies as Croydon – the Silicon Valley of South London – takes the crown August 30, 2016 Croydon's burgeoning reputation as a tech hub has made it the UK’s fastest growing economy, new research has found. Croydon topped the list of 173 areas as the fastest growing UK region with an annual growth rate of 9.3 per cent in gross value added (GVA), according to accountancy group UHY Hacker Young. GVA is a measure of an area’s [...]