Bonus culture still thrives in midst of recessionIT’S an oft-quoted truism that we are all suffering in this recession. But some of us are suffering more than others.Read article
UK economy faces prospect of 'lost decade'A FORMER Bank of England interest rate-setter has warned that Britain is in danger of sliding into a 1990s-style Japanese ‘lost decade’.
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Stagecoach show caution over National Express movesIT MUST be a long night of the soul for Brian Souter to weigh a possible full takeover bid by his Stagecoach group for rival buses-to-rail company National Express.
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Why firms clam up when investigators come calling . . .PLEA-bargaining? Just not British, old boy.
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Unique economic conditions force us to face some unpalatable truthsCARMAKING and the media are just two sectors that will be disappointed about an apparently hardline approach to rescue takeovers by the regulators.
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Mixed messages on motor recoveryYOU only have to cast a glance at the car crash that is the global automotive industry to know that any real pick-up in manufacturing is not going to happen fast.
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A note of caution to all the bonus bashersIT IS open season on bonus-bashing in the banking sector.
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Small business braced for impact as loan parachute fails to open.THE government’s £1bn loan guarantee scheme for small business was meant to be a ripcord for a key section of the economy in freefall.
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Public opinion has turned against the bankersTHEY say what goes around comes around.
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Any jobless initiative is a good thingGORDON Brown’s £500m pump-priming exercise today to try and prevent a long-term underclass of unemployable people being the legacy of the nascent recession has polarised opinion.Read article
Banks braced for Madoff impactGREAT Dr Strangelove-type name for an alleged corporate fraudster of the highest echelon, isn’t it? ‘Madoff’.
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The City needs to fight for its survivalBACK in the late 1980s and early 1990s a major criticism of the City of London's regulatory system was that it was a so-called 'alphabet soup' of confusion.
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RBS leads the way with consumer-friendly strategyROYAL Bank of Scotland’s charm offensive towards small businesses and homeowners should be unambiguously welcomed in these icy economic times.
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Brown's borrowing timebombGORDON Brown doesn’t see today’s pre-budget kickstart to Britain’s sick economy as a gamble.Read article
Darling may be the Santa Clause of tax cuts - but Osborne is wise to play ScroogeBenjamin Franklin got it wrong. There are three certainties in life, not two - death, taxes and politicians arguing about taxes.
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In a recession any good news really is good newsTHOUSANDS of jobs cuts have just been announced by Royal Bank of Scotland.
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Surprising indifference to extraordinary rate cutNOT for the first time in the financial world in the past year or so, it feels like we are seeing the mood change in real-time, so to speak. We are all plugged into gathering astonishment as a default mode.
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The pounding that sterling is taking will only continueSTERLING is on the ropes.Read article
Back to the grindstone for British economy as industry comes back into favourWHAT goes around comes around - manufacturing is exciting in Whitehall again.Read article
Banking and the moral hazardHOW almost quaint the distaste for encouraging ‘moral hazard’ among banks sounds now.
The phrase was voiced by Bank of England governor Mervyn King at the time of the credit crunch and Northern Rock debacle more than a year ago.Read article
Reassurances only heighten anxiety as market readjusts‘WE CAN assure customers their retail deposits are safe with Bradford & Bingley.’
‘HBOS is a very well-capitalised bank.’
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No end to dark arts as hedge funds seek their profit fixCAN regulators curb the short-selling hedge funds? Don’t bank on it.
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Will Bank of Scotland brand survive merger?WHILE Lloyds TSB’s takeover of HBOS is not a done deal, there is understandably much speculation as to what the name of the new combine might eventually be.
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Short selling and HBOSTWO pieces of good news this morning and it is crystal-clear they are related.
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Northern Rock collapse - have lessons been learned one year on?TOMORROW is the anniversary of the events that virtually overnight branded Northern Rock bank a busted flush.Read article
Trading updates are useful, but it's becoming information overloadYou can have too much of a good thing, can’t you?Read article
