Treasury report on Brexit: Why the many fiscal faces of chancellor George Osborne could backfire on Remain campaign in EU referendum April 21, 2016 During his time at number 11, George Osborne has presented a number of contradictory fiscal positions. He is of course best known for his austerity rhetoric, so one would think with the ultimate goal to reduce the size and influence of Whitehall. But the reality is that he has consistently failed to meet his deficit reduction [...]
EU referendum: Remain campaign must confront their own risks as they warn against a Brexit April 21, 2016 One of the central criticisms levelled against the Leave campaign is that Brexit would constitute a leap into the unknown. The Remain campaign say that leaving the EU would be too much of a risk – especially since advocates of Leave can’t articulate what Britain’s future would look like outside the EU. What kind of [...]
George Osborne may have made a fatal error by revealing his hand on Brexit April 21, 2016 The general public, together with economists unfamiliar with UK-EU cost-benefit analysis, probably found this week’s Brexit report from the Treasury persuasive, while cautiously acknowledging that they were being “scared”. Treasury economists, who are familiar with the economic arguments, clearly found it persuasive too – they produced it after all – although one must add the [...]
Banking’s broken promise: Depositors are failed by the illusion of absolute safety April 21, 2016 We all crave certainty in an inherently uncertain world. But a promise of safety always comes at a price. For example, consider a typical investment portfolio: it could include funds targeting returns of 10 per cent sitting alongside cash deposits paying 0.5 per cent. The reason for the large difference in returns is that the [...]
Don’t sleep-walk into chaos: Why the UK should remain in the EU April 21, 2016 Thank goodness it will all be over by 23 June. Or will it? The chaos may just be beginning. I’m personally very fearful about the outcome of the EU referendum. In my view, leaving would be not much short of disastrous. But I don’t want to dwell on the reasons the UK should not leave. There [...]
Can the rise in unemployment between December and February be blamed on the EU referendum? April 21, 2016 Jeremy Cook, chief economist at World First, says Yes. The referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU is acting as a depressant on almost all UK economic indicators at the moment, and February’s labour market report is simply the latest. That is not to say that every single piece of weakening data is as a [...]
Vulnerable Brits are facing a personal debt crisis April 21, 2016 Back in 2010, reeling from a global financial crisis, Britain entered into a period of austerity. Talk from the government was of tightening belts, sensible spending and paying down debt. But while public expenditure has undoubtedly been tightened since then, levels of consumer credit have been creeping inexorably upwards. Findings from a new report by [...]
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Bank of America have all seen their stock climb recently – but the big banks are not out of the woods yet April 20, 2016 Shares in Goldman Sachs sprang out of bed in New York yesterday, as traders reacted to first-quarter results that were not quite as miserable as Wall Street had been expecting. Lowering expectations ahead of a dreaded event is a tried and tested method, within and beyond the business world, and it has worked a treat [...]
Trouble percolates for Caffe Nero over living wage after coffee chain bans free lunches for staff April 20, 2016 In recent weeks, several businesses have announced they will fund the living wage by cutting back perks for staff – something which is causing the public to turn against the brands in question. One of the best examples where this has happened is Caffe Nero. The high street coffee chain reacted to the introduction of [...]
George Osborne has no confidence in an independent Britain April 20, 2016 Are George Osborne and David Cameron irresponsible? Judging by their own Treasury report predicting doomsday scenarios from Brexit, surely the mere act of holding, let alone losing, a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU shows undue risk-taking with our economic livelihoods. Of course, the work may be a deliberately partial analysis designed to help [...]