Exiting the EU highlights the risks of economic and political fragmentationThe singular issue of Brexit has consumed the United Kingdom for two-and-a-half years. The “if”, “how” and “when” of the country’s withdrawal from the European Union, after decades of membership, has understandably dominated news coverage, and sidelined almost every other policy debate. Lost in the mix, for example, has been any serious discussion of how the UK should boost productivity and competitiveness at a time of global economic and financial fluidity.At the same time, the rest of the world’s interest in Brexit has understandably waned. The UK’s negotiations with the EU have dragged on through multiple déjà vu moments, and the consensus is that the economic fallout will be felt far more acutely in Britain than in the EU, let alone in countries elsewhere.Related: Business leaders rally behind May's Brexit deal amid fears of crashing out Continue reading...

Attachment to place and identity can be part of a radical democratic project that speaks to people’s heartsIn Europe, the United States and Brazil, authoritarian nationalism is sweeping to power through a mixture of negative emotion and elite connivance. But this is no mere re-run of the 1930s. In the first place, unlike in Germany, Italy and Spain at the incipient moments of their dictatorships, the existing elites neither want nor need fascism. Their problem is that they don’t know how to fight it.Over the past 15 years political science has engaged a well-evidenced but unfruitful debate over what caused the rise of parties such as Ukip, the Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands, or France’s Front National. In general, I think it is proven that cultural rather than economic insecurities are what’s driving politics to the right. But it does not follow from this that action at the economic level can’t stem the tide of plebeian racism. In order to get the actions right, though, we have to understand that the political narratives of the centre are failing due to the way the free-market economy was designed.People understood that emotion could only reinsert itself into decision-making if the system were disruptedRelated: How populist are you? Continue reading...

More government money goes to subsidising housebuyers than to housing benefit – a situation that is not only unfair but costing the economy dearWhen official figures show that the number of new homes built for social renting has fallen by almost four-fifths in a decade, it should come as no surprise that more than a million families in England are stuck on council waiting lists.The dramatic slide resulted in only 6,463 in social housing homes being built in England in 2017-18, down from almost 30,000 a decade earlier. High on the list of blame for this shameful situation are government cuts, both to local authority budgets and to housing associations’ spending power. Continue reading...

Labour Brexiters see the UK as essentially different from France and Germany - but we share the same economic challenges, including reluctance to pay more taxThere are some Labour-supporting Brexiters who like to think that Britain is peculiar among European nations, and that differences of language, culture and history mean it should never have found itself inside a common market, let alone a union, with its continental neighbours.Jacques Delors’s speech to the TUC in 1988 positioned the UK inside a family of like-minded nations. And it had the effect of converting not only much of the UK trades union movement to the benefits of a marriage between social protection and regulated markets, but also much of the Labour party. Continue reading...

Brexit Britain is recusing itself from a level of influence on the global stage and downgrading its clout in the worldThe UK is in the perverse situation of having no coherent foreign policy on the eve of completing an international negotiation that has consumed all of the government’s energy. The situation is less paradoxical than it sounds, because Brexit is a project based on an assertion of what the country does not want to be – a member of the EU – without a clear articulation of what it should be instead. That omission will be felt keenly, but not discussed, at Sunday’s extraordinary summit, where Theresa May and the 27 other European heads of government are expected to agree the broad outlines of a future partnership. But this “deal” will not answer the existential question that Brexit raises: if Britain’s influence in the world is no longer to be deployed as part of a European project, how will it be felt?The leave campaign did not recognise that as a legitimate question because Eurosceptics always saw “Brussels” as a hostile force and a drain on the sovereign power of a nation state. Brexit, in that view, offered enhanced status as “Global Britain”. That fantasy, like so many of the leaver pledges, has been dismantled by events. The dynamics of a 27-to-one negotiation have demonstrated how a continental bloc asserts power greater than the sum of its parts and greater than any one European country can wield alone. Power in the world is not simply a matter of autonomy to sign trade deals. EU membership has been an axiom of British foreign and security policy well beyond the arena of economic cooperation. To jettison that arrangement would have been risky at any point in recent decades. With Donald Trump in the White House, the timing is exquisitely poor. Mr Trump has started a trade war with China that looks like the prologue to a long confrontation between superpowers. Traditionally, a US president would look to Europe for strategic alliance under such circumstances, but Mr Trump has also picked trade fights with Brussels and heaped scorn on the EU. Continue reading...

Conservative MPs, both leavers and remainers, inflicted this misery on Britain – only defeating Toryism can stop itAt least one in 200 people in Britain – one of the wealthiest nations that has ever existed – is homeless. Last year there was the biggest rise in child poverty for three decades. Benefit claimants have had their state support stopped – “sanctioned” – for attending a funeral, for missing a jobcentre appointment after being hit by a car, and – in the case of one 60-year-old army veteran – for selling poppies for the Royal Legion, thus allegedly showing he wasn’t trying hard enough to look for work. One woman I met had to pay the bedroom tax after her daughter died: she now had a spare room, you see. These are random examples of the institutionalised cruelty of austerity Britain. You cannot understand the political turmoil now afflicting Britain without understanding these injustices. That’s not to claim that all of those battered by austerity voted for Brexit - they certainly did not – but as one academic study found this year, its impact was decisive in winning the vote for leave.Related: Angry England clearly desires change. But blame inequality, not Brussels | Polly ToynbeeRelated: For people suffering under austerity Corbyn is the answer, not the EU | Holly Rigby Continue reading...

Forget a ‘people’s vote’: reversing Brexit would be a terrible betrayal of the people left behind by the EU’s neoliberal agendaWhen I tell people that I voted in favour of leaving the EU in 2016, my statement is often followed by an awkward pause. Sometimes, the reaction is openly hostile; did I not realise that my vote had enabled racists and power-hungry Tories to destroy the country? In an era where to be anti-Brexit has become a symbol of progressive credentials, my leave vote is seen as a transgression against a cosmopolitan, liberal ideal.But the truth is that I am not alone: 35% of Labour voters such as me also voted for Brexit. Not only that, but polls of my fellow Labour party members on their desire for a second referendum are far from conclusive. This is because there have always been strong, anti-capitalist arguments for leaving the European Union. The reality is that the EU project is far more about neoliberal free trade for the rich and punishing austerity for the poor than about Aperol spritz, discounted Zara coats and Erasmus study programmes.Related: Here’s what the people’s vote campaign needs to do | John HarrisRelated: Leftwing Brexiters want out from the 'transnational juggernaut' | Larry Elliott Continue reading...

Half of costs to British economy related to lower employment and productivityMental ill-health is costing the UK more than £94bn every year, counting treatment, social support costs and the losses to the economy from people who cannot work, according to the OECD.The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s report shows the whole of Europe is struggling with the burden of mental ill-health, which affects an estimated 84 million people – one in six. The cost to the UK economy is in line with the average for Europe at 4% of GDP. Nearly half the UK costs (£42bn) are indirect costs related to lower employment and productivity. Continue reading...

First reading since chancellor’s ‘gamble’ on future strength is a worrying sign, say analystsBritain’s budget deficit rose to the highest October level for three years, handing Philip Hammond disappointing news soon after his budget “gamble” on the future strength of the public finances.The first snapshot since last month’s autumn budget revealed that public sector net borrowing, excluding the nationalised banks, grew by £1.6n to £8.8bn compared with October a year ago, according to the Office for National Statistics. Continue reading...

Far-right deputy PM defiant despite threat of sanctions of up to 0.7% of GDPItaly’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has said he is prepared to confront EU leaders after the European commission rejected his country’s draft 2019 budget for a second time, while calling on them to “respect the Italian people”.Italy is facing sanctions after the commission said in a report that the government of the far-right League and anti-establishment Five Star Movement had seriously violated fiscal rules. Continue reading...

Two former members of Bank of England’s rate-setting committee on the economic outlook

Most economic indicators in October point to lasting damage if UK crashes out of EU

Each month we look at key indicators to see what effect the Brexit process has on growth, prosperity and trade

Tory attacked as out of touch for saying families living in poverty could renegotiate rentLabour and poverty charities have condemned a government minister as out of touch after he suggested that families living in poverty because of the benefit cap could consider taking in a lodger to make ends meet.Justin Tomlinson, the junior work and pensions minister, told a committee of MPs that other ways families could cope with the impact of the cap would be to move, or to seek to renegotiate their rent. Continue reading...

Thinktank says even ‘soft’ Brexit will harm UK as strong global growth reaches peakBritain needs to forge a deal with the European Union that brings the closest possible relationship or risk an economic downturn, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned in its latest health check on the global economy.The thinktank, which advises 34 of the world’s richest countries, appeared to support Theresa May’s deal with the EU, or an even closer alternative, as the best way to avoid harming the UK economy and placing extra strain on global growth. Continue reading...

Bank of England governor says failure to reach a deal would cause a ‘large negative shock’Mark Carney has thrown his weight behind Theresa May’s Brexit deal, warning that a no-deal scenario would damage the economy, trigger job losses, lead to lower pay for workers and cause inflation to rise.The governor of the Bank of England said May’s draft EU withdrawal agreement would “support economic outcomes” that would be positive for the British economy, primarily because it would give Britain more time to prepare for whatever final Brexit deal is agreed between Westminster and Brussels. Continue reading...

A group of extremists within the Tory party would welcome the havoc unleashed by ‘no deal’ to advance their causeThe vultures circle a wounded prime minister, who is attacked by the hordes of extremists in her party while beset by new inconvenient facts daily exposing the damage Brexit can do. Look, the British army is preparing for the worst: emergency troops are at the ready. Operation Temperer, which usually provides soldiers for terrorist attacks, is now ordered to make 10,000 soldiers available to keep order on the streets and in shops, and to distribute emergency medicines in case of a no-deal crash-out.“Our firms are spending hundreds of millions of pounds preparing for the worst case – and not one penny of it will create new jobs or new products,” warns the Confederation of British Industry chief, Carolyn Fairbairn.Related: We don’t need to leave the EU to control immigration, Mrs May | Charles Clarke and Alan JohnsonThe great Brexit rift is a war for the nation’s soul between a revolutionary right and a social democracy under threatRelated: Mrs May has put her cards on the table. Now it’s everyone else’s turn | Andrew RawnsleyRelated: Brexit is a class betrayal. So why is Labour colluding in it? | John Harris Continue reading...

Good news for food shops but other high-street outlets may suffer as consumers go onlineOnline shopping and food retailers are forecast to be the winners this Christmas as consumers keep a tight rein on spending on clothing, homewares and other non-food items.Total retail spending is expected to rise 4% in December, compared with the same month in 2017, to reach nearly £48bn excluding VAT, according to data from the market research firm Mintel. Continue reading...

The Nissan-Renault alliance is in crisis after one of the world’s most powerful auto bosses is accused of under-reporting his salary over many years

Readers respond after the UN poverty envoy said austerity has inflicted ‘great misery’ on UK citizensThe UN envoy’s visit and report concluding that “Austerity has inflicted misery on people” (Report, 17 November) could not be more important. His confirmation that poverty and humiliation has been heaped upon millions of vulnerable men, women and children by this government has to be a spur to action for us all. As Philip Alston said with great clarity, “in the UK poverty is a political choice”. A deeply shameful one. For once, someone listened to those who are struggling to survive and care for children without homes, healthcare or an income. After all, a personal or health crisis can plunge anyone into poverty.We can all get caught up in the demands, distractions and problems of our everyday lives (including Brexit), but this reflects on our humanity and it is to our shame if every one of us does not continue to fight against these punitive policies with every fibre of our being. Rising destitution and a generation of children suffering deprivation must never become the new normal. Food banks and practical help are essential in the short term, but we have to achieve change and constantly reject government rhetoric denying the devastating impact of austerity policies and denigrating vulnerable people as “undeserving”. All this while tax cuts are given to the rich. None of us can stand by.

Central banks should issue their own digital currencies to replace a crisis-prone banking system and shut out cryptocurrenciesThe world’s central bankers have begun to discuss the idea of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and now even the International Monetary Fund and its managing director, Christine Lagarde, are talking openly about the pros and cons of the idea.This conversation is past due. Cash is being used less and less, and has nearly disappeared in countries such as Sweden and China. At the same time, digital payment systems – PayPal, Venmo, and others in the west; Alipay and WeChat in China; M-Pesa in Kenya; Paytm in India – offer attractive alternatives to services once provided by traditional commercial banks.Insofar as central bank digital currencies would crowd out worthless cryptocurrencies, they should be welcomed Continue reading...

Ex-minister expected to make first speech from backbenches to support amendment to the finance billJo Johnson, the Conservative MP who resigned as a minister to back a second Brexit referendum, will on Monday throw his weight behind a bid to force the government to publish economic forecasts that compare its deal with remaining in the European Union.The Orpington MP is expected to make his first speech from the backbenches to support a cross-party amendment to the finance bill. Tabled by Labour’s Chuka Umunna and the Conservative Anna Soubry, the amendment is backed by 70 MPs from six parties, including the Liberal Democrat leader, Vince Cable, and the SNP’s Europe spokesman, Stephen Gethins.Related: All eyes on the Bank's response to the threat of a disorderly BrexitRelated: Brexit: the big decision we didn’t even think about | William Keegan Continue reading...

The report of the UN poverty envoy exposes the grim toll of austerityTruth alone is not enough. It has been only too easy for campaigners and experts to amass abundant evidence of the damage wrought by austerity. The government has changed only its rhetoric. Put aside what the prime minister and chancellor say, and look at last month’s budget. Most government departments face drops in their real-terms spending per person for the next six years. Money that could have transformed the lives of the poorest has gone instead to tax cuts for the wealthy.Moral arguments and even the invocation of self-interest – pointing out how divided, damaged and diminished the nation is becoming – have had little impact. Sometimes people must be shamed into action. That is why the report of the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights is so important. Philip Alston is not the first to record that the UK government has inflicted “great misery” through “mean-spirited, and often callous” policies; that it has done so by choice; and that Brexit is set to make matters much worse. The difference is that his position and plain speaking have exposed this country before the world’s gaze. His scathing analysis is a call not only to conscience but to Britain’s self-respect.This editorial was amended on 18 November 2018 to correct a statistical error. Continue reading...

The annual US celebration of small businesses is demeaning. If we’re good at what we do, we don’t need acts of charityOn 24 November, the day after Black Friday and two days before Cyber Monday, Americans will “celebrate” our eighth annual Small Business Saturday.The holiday, which started in 2010, has grown into something of a national phenomenon. What began as just a promotional campaign thought up by American Express has now spawned more than 7,200 “neighborhood champions” who “rally their communities with events and activities” according to the company. Since then a number of business associations, non-profit trade groups and municipalities have formed the Small Business Saturday Coalition, which aims to encourage “everyone to shop small”.Related: 'It hasn't benefited us a dime': Georgia steelworkers' verdict on Trump tariffsSmall means pitiful and they don’t want to be pitied by marketing executives and the media on one day of shoppingRelated: Joseph Stiglitz: 'America should be a warning to other countries' Continue reading...

A bloodbath prediction by Mark Carney would help the PM to get her withdrawal deal passedMark Carney will give evidence to the Commons Treasury committee this week and even someone who struggles to know their John Maynard Keynes from their Milton Friedman can guess what will be top of the agenda.MPs will want to know how the Bank of England plans to respond if the result of voting down the withdrawal agreement negotiated by Theresa May is that the UK leaves the EU next spring in a disorderly way.Related: CBI backs May's Brexit deal and says no deal would lead to shortages Continue reading...

Before staying out of the euro, the UK commissioned 23 studies. Before leaving the EU, we didn’t commission oneI don’t know much about driverless cars, but we have certainly got a driverless government.It was Gordon Brown who put his finger on the essence of the humiliating mess into which a dreadful Conservative administration has steered this once-proud nation. During a dazzling address to the Institute for Government in London last week, Brown reminded us that he had taken the question of whether or not the UK should join the eurozone so seriously that he had commissioned no fewer than 23 studies on the subject.The case for a People’s Vote strengthens by the day, and it is up to the Labour party to rise to the occasion Continue reading...

Brent crude’s fall lifts the pressure on central banks to curb inflation. But it also reflects a decline in economic optimismAfter six weeks of falling, the oil price came to a pause last week. In the global ranking of economic events, a 20%-plus drop in the price of the black stuff is a big deal. A barrel of Brent crude cost $86 at the beginning of October. Last week the cost of a barrel fell to just $66 before settling at $67.Of course, the Brent price is only back to where it was in March, and remains well above the low of $28 it hit in early 2016. Yet such a dramatic fall will force America’s central bank to rip up its forecasts for inflation and reconsider some of its planned interest rate rises. Continue reading...

Australian PM downplays Beijing’s Pacific expansionist ambitions as Chinese officials reportedly try to force way into PNG minister’s officeScott Morrison says the United States and China are getting closer to resolving a trade war that threatens economic growth in the region, downplaying tensions on display during the Apec summit about Beijing’s expansionist ambitions in the Pacific, and the impact of globalisation.The Australian prime minister said on Sunday the US and China were aware that other Apec countries wanted to see an end to the tit-for-tat trade spat that has played out since July, and he said “there is a lot more progress being made here than is probably being acknowledged”.Related: America to partner with Australia to develop naval base on Manus IslandRelated: Apec leaders at odds over globalisation and free trade Continue reading...

Xi Jinping and Mike Pence trade barbs in their speeches in Papua New GuineaAsia-Pacific leaders failed to bridge gaping divisions over trade at a summit dominated by a war of words between the US and China as they vie for regional influence.For the first time, Apec leaders were unable to agree on a formal written declaration, amid sharp differences between the world’s top two economies over the rules of global trade.Related: A Chinese recession is inevitable - don't think it won't affect you | Kenneth RogoffRelated: 'Can they really pull it off?': the Apec summit comes to Papua New Guinea Continue reading...

Firms that operate a four-day week with no cut in pay or benefits, as proposed last week by John McDonnell, can see improvements in staff morale and health as well as revenueLorraine Gray credits the move to a four-day working week with her company’s rapid growth. She is operations director at Pursuit Marketing, a telephone and digital marketing firm based in Glasgow, and has seen an astonishing 29.5% improvement in productivity in the two years since employees started having Fridays off, with no reduction in pay or other benefits.It has also resulted, she says, in big increases in employee satisfaction and health. Pursuit now expects projected revenues of £5m in the year to June 2019 to rise to as much as £15m in the following financial year. Continue reading...

Leading manufacturers make clear they are stepping up planning for no-deal BrexitBritain’s leading employers’ organisation has sought to bolster support for Theresa May with a warning to MPs that rejecting the prime minister’s Brexit deal would lead to shortages and prevent vital supplies reaching the public.In a show of support for May, the CBI said the agreement reached between London and Brussels represented hard-won progress and that going backwards would damage Britain’s prosperity. Continue reading...

Poverty envoy says callous policies driven by political desire for social re-engineering• ‘I’m scared to eat sometimes’• Women reveal impact of cuts• Children tell UN: ‘It’s unfair’

Summary of Philip Alston’s report which says austerity has inflicted misery on UK citizens

The UN report is harshly critical of government policy, saying it’s been driven by social re-engineering rather than economicsBritain’s government has today been held up in front of the world and comprehensively damned for the misery and chaos it has inflicted on its own people. Its defining policy of austerity is revealed to the international community as callous, as ineffective, and even as un-British. These judgments do not come from some well-known foe of Theresa May and David Cameron – but from a UN envoy.Related: UK austerity has inflicted 'great misery' on citizens, UN says Continue reading...

Sterling drops to about $1.27 against the dollar and falls by 1.8% against the euro

Letters: Readers on the visit to the UK by Philip Alston, UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, to examine rising levels of poverty and hardship across the UK after a decade of cuts to public servicesOutrage, anger, despair, shame, impotence: the feelings aroused by Aditya Chakrabortty’s article (It took a UN envoy to hear how austerity is destroying lives, 14 November). The truths consequent on the savage, unnecessary, uncaring cuts to public services are not hidden away but confront us daily. Welfare benefits slashed, millions dependent on food banks. Libraries, museums, childcare centres, youth clubs, swimming pools consigned to the scrapheap; road repairs and park budgets cut, bus routes terminated. In Darley Dale a helpful notice tells us that the lavatory is closed and the nearest one is 2.1 miles away.The true story is that of a government that has chosen private profit over civic services, while it wreaks an assault on the services that make towns and communities good places to live. In a 2015 Guardian article about benefits, sanctions and food banks, Ken Loach called for “public rage” and spoke about “conscious cruelty”. Continue reading...

Volumes fall 0.5% in October as gloom engulfs high street amid growing jitters over EU divorceRetail sales fell in October, adding to the gloom on the British high street as official figures showed that shoppers kept a tight rein on spending amid growing Brexit uncertainty.Sales volumes dropped by 0.5% from September, in contrast to forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists for a rise of 0.2%.Related: Pound tumbles as UK markets suffer Brexit deal volatility Continue reading...

Pound suffers heavy sell-off after Dominic Raab and Esther McVey resign from the cabinet over Theresa May’s Brexit plan

Chequers-style deal would lift UK growth rate beyond 1.5% it expects for 2019, says fundPhilip Hammond’s claim that the UK economy can expect a bounce following parliamentary backing for a Chequers-style deal has won the backing of the International Monetary Fund.The Washington-based organisation said there would be a jump in consumer spending and business investment following a deal that secured frictionless trade with the European Union, lifting the UK’s growth rate beyond the 1.5% it expects for 2019. Continue reading...

Europe’s largest economy hit by weaker trade position and lower consumer spendingFears for the health of the eurozone economy have intensified after Germany, the single currency’s powerhouse, suffered its first contraction in more than three years.Tough emission tests affecting the country’s strategically important automotive industry, lower consumer spending, and weaker exports triggered by rising global protectionism resulted in the economy shrinking by 0.2% in the third quarter of 2018. Continue reading...

A rise had been predicted and ONS says cost of fuel pushed up cost of livingUK inflation was unchanged at 2.4% in October after a rise in the cost of petrol and utility bills was offset by falling food prices.City economists had predicted an increase to 2.5% but a price war on the high street, especially among food retailers, drove down the cost of the weekly shop and held back consumer inflation. Continue reading...

Philip Alston’s inquiry into poverty in the UK has heard a shocking truth that British politicians refuse to acknowledgeThe room is packed, people spilling out of the doors. The atmosphere crackles. So it should, for this is what it feels like when an entire society is held to account. Over 12 days, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights is touring not Bangladesh nor Sudan but the UK. And what Philip Alston has discovered in the fifth-richest country on Earth should shame us all. From Newcastle to Jaywick, he has uncovered stories of families facing homelessness, of people too scared to eat, of those on benefits contemplating suicide.Related: 'A political choice': UN envoy says UK can help all who hit hard times Continue reading...

Christine Lagarde praises rebel technology as ‘safe, cheap, and potentially semi-anonymous’Governments should consider offering their own cryptocurrencies to prevent the systems becoming havens for fraudsters and money launderers, Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund said referring to the fast-growing fintech industry.Lagarde said central banks had to work quickly to establish digital cash for burgeoning networks of private financial transactions or risk their mushrooming into trading networks that were inherently unstable.Related: Time to regulate bitcoin, says Treasury committee report Continue reading...

Five Star Movement/League government to stick with big-spending strategy in bid to fulfil election promisesThe Italian government has defied a request to present a revised draft budget for 2019 to the European commission, as it pursues its big-spending strategy.Luigi Di Maio, the deputy prime minister and leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, which is ruling in coalition with the far-right League, said the government was committed to maintaining its deficit target of 2.4% but it would move forward with plans to cut taxes, introduce a universal basic income and lower the retirement age.Related: Italy’s battle with Brussels is about more than money | Maurizio Molinari Continue reading...

Bafflement and derision in capital as US president in spat with Macron slams wine trade tariffs as ‘not fair’A tweet by Donald Trump attacking the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and threatening a wine war with France, has left a sour taste in Paris. In a series of online comments lambasting Macron over nationalism and world wars, the US president rated the wine trade between France and the US as “not fair”.On Trade, France makes excellent wine, but so does the U.S. The problem is that France makes it very hard for the U.S. to sell its wines into France, and charges big Tariffs, whereas the U.S. makes it easy for French wines, and charges very small Tariffs. Not fair, must change!EU tariffs on wine are roughly 9p a bottle. Get a grip. https://t.co/0tkjV5neammy dude tariffs on US wines sold to France is a tax on audacity https://t.co/QKuQAAdSHR Continue reading...

Banking Standards Board tells MPs care for vulnerable customers continues to fall shortLittle progress has been made on fixing the UK’s poor banking culture, five years on from a major industry inquiry meant to address lender misconduct, the chair of the sector’s standards board has admitted.In the Banking Standards Board’s first appearance in front of the treasury committee, Dame Colette Bowe and CEO Alison Cottrell were pressed on whether anything had changed since a 2013 parliamentary commission condemned a culture in which poor standards were often considered normal.Related: NatWest customers dumped and left unable to pay bills Continue reading...

Saffron – the spice so expensive it’s called ‘red gold’ – has brought jobs and money to a region better known for coal mines and unemployment. Most are young people who were shut out of the job market during Greece’s economic downturn. They returned to the countryside to make a living off the land Continue reading...

Apple shares were down 5% after suppliers cut their forecasts, causing the tech-heavy Nasdaq and other tech stocks to fallStock markets in Asia have tumbled after a sharp selloff on Wall Street hit leading companies including Apple, Goldman Sachs and General Electric.With Monday’s losses, all three major Wall Street bourses erased the gains from their brief rally after the US congressional elections on 6 November.The prospect of Presidential Harassment by the Dems is causing the Stock Market big headaches!Related: Populists like Trump exacerbate rather than cure corruption | Barry Eichengreen Continue reading...

Buy or sell? No one knows, but an unpalatable Brexit deal and a falling pound could be toxic for a weak prime ministerIf Theresa May’s Brexit deal faces a humiliating defeat in the Commons – which is a popular opinion in the wake of Jo Johnson’s recent resignation – the currency markets don’t seem to have noticed. Sterling fell a little on Monday morning but the instinct to celebrate anything that looks like “progress” towards an agreed deal returned in the afternoon when Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, was reported to have said the main elements of an exit treaty are ready.One might say the market’s gentle to-and-fro is exactly what you’d expect. Investors are as confused as everybody else about the eventual outcome. And so they cling to the idea, which has been the consensus opinion for about a year, that some form of grand fudge will prevail in the end and that an orderly Brexit will happen next March. Continue reading...

The US president and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro will repopulate the swamp rather than drain itFollowing Emmanuel Macron’s election as president of France in May 2017, global elites breathed a sigh of relief. The populist wave, they reassured themselves, had crested. Voters had regained their sanity. Helped along by an electoral system in which the two leading candidates faced off in a second round, the “silent majority” had united behind the centrist candidate in the runoff.But now we have Brazil’s presidential election, in which Jair Bolsonaro, who displays the authoritarian, anti-establishment, and anti-other tendencies of a textbook populist, won decisively in the second round. A two-round electoral system in which the runoff pits a populist outsider against the last mainstream candidate standing is no guarantee, evidently, that the centre will hold.Related: Who deserves the credit for strong US economy? | Michael Boskin Continue reading...