Rapid responses
No green shoots
[Re: Looking ahead to the 2013 markets]
The UK economy will continue to underperform in this new year, skirting an unprecedented triple dip recession. Indeed, the Bank of England predicts that it will take until 2015 for UK GDP to return to its level prior to the 2008 credit crunch – representing the best part of a lost decade. Recoveries from financial crises are always slow, but the fact that most leading economies are undertaking austerity at the same time is, in an economic sense, depressing. It is easier to replay debt with a growing income. My New Year’s wish is that British policymakers discover their imagination and don’t continue to sit on their hands.
Professor Philip Whyman
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Promising trends
[Re: Thank you for reading us in ever greater numbers in 2012]
I’m sure many of us will look back over 2012 with extremely fond memories – the Olympics, the Jubilee, a renewed sense of national purpose and pride. And I’m glad that so many are thinking deeply about how we can build on those achievements. The key will be ensuring that positivity, not a negative outlook, stays at the forefront of our minds. In a difficult economic environment, it would be all too easy for Britain to descend into a grim, depressed, reactionary misery. But that isn’t the solution. Hopefully 2012 will teach us much about what it means to be successful. And hopefully those lessons won’t be forgotten.
Marion Jackson
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TOP TWEETS
Simon Ward of Henderson thinks 2013 will be the best year for the UK economy since 2006, with 2 per cent growth.
@Shireblogger
Some signs in the economy and market indicate that 2013 might be the first “post-crisis year”.
@AlannaPetroff
Just paid for the bus with my debit card, and for a coffee with my phone. Perhaps in 2013 I won’t have to carry money anymore.
@LauraGarnham
Saxo Bank’s outrageous prediction is that gold will drop $500 to reach $1,200 per troy ounce in 2013.
@RustyTug