Reserve Bank’s deputy governor Guy Debelle says people increasingly blame central banks for economic woesOne of the Reserve Bank’s most senior officials has warned the public’s anxiety about low interest rates and their affect on the distribution of wealth is posing a “new threat” to central bank independence.Guy Debelle, RBA deputy governor, issued the warning to central bank colleagues in London overnight.Related: Scott Morrison claims 'better days ahead' for Australian economyRelated: CEOs: if people aren’t spending, maybe you need to pay them more | Greg Jericho Continue reading...

It is 20 years since the Bank of England gained independence. It may not survive the nationalist pressures of leaving the EUBank of England independence, announced just five days after Labour’s 1997 landslide victory, was a tightly kept secret of the kind that Gordon Brown made his trademark. Yet it was almost at once accepted as the last, critical piece of a framework to protect the UK economy from the inflationary tendencies of weak governments on a par with joining the European Community 25 years previously. Today, at a conference marking the 20th anniversary of his coup, Mr Brown added another claim to its significance as a force for stability: only the discipline of independence had enabled him to keep sterling out of the eurozone.But like other speakers both before and after him at today’s conference, the former chancellor warned that just as the post-crash recession had played a significant role in Brexit, so might it undermine the case for Bank independence: the argument for taking back control could just as easily be extended to the power of the Bank to set interest rates, and with consequences as devastating. Mr Brown suggested that the answer to economic populism might be to set up a strategic oversight group that included Treasury officials as well as Bank economists. Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank, suggested it was a bigger challenge. The threat was a response to “QE, nationalism, and loss of trust in globalisation”. No central bank could stop Brexit making the UK poorer. Independence is not the same as omnipotence: the challenge it faces comes from events far beyond its control. Continue reading...

Professor Richard Murphy offers further explanation of his concept, Richard Middleton on writing off the debt, and Ivor Morgan on qualitative easingTwo comments on my letter concerning the use of People’s Quantitative Easing to buy out PFI (27 September) in your paper on 28 September require a response.Martin Wheatcroft says that the Bank of England reserve deposits of our clearing banks, which is where most QE funds are now located, have interest paid on them, meaning that People’s QE is not costless, and that cost could rise, considerably. He makes three mistakes. First, interest is only paid by Bank of England discretion. It could withdraw or limit it. Second, he quotes nominal and not inflation-adjusted interest rates, and it is adjusted rates that matter overall for People’s QE because they indicate the real cost. Third, he assumes UK interest rates will rise without QE being unwound, and that is exceptionally unlikely. His scenario will not come to pass: if rates were as high as he suggests there would be no QE-generated funds in the Bank of England on which interest would be due. Continue reading...

Former PM says politicians must take joint responsibility with Bank for heading off future financial crises, not rely on expertsGordon Brown has said the Bank of England will be vulnerable to populist demands to “take back control” unless elected politicians accept joint responsibility for heading off future financial crises.The former prime minister called for the creation of a joint Treasury-Bank strategic oversight group to assess risks to the economy, saying it was unfair for Threadneedle Street to be blamed for policy failures in areas it did not control. Continue reading...

All the day’s economic and financial news, as the Bank of England holds a conference to mark 20 years of setting UK interest rates

The governor of the Bank of England has said the central bank alone cannot guarantee prosperity. Speaking on Thursday, Carney said the UK's medium-term prosperity would depend on the country's new relationship with the EU

World faces disaster if those who contributed ‘lion’s share’ to global warming don’t aid low-income countries, IMF saysThe International Monetary Fund has told rich countries they must do more to help poor nations cope with climate change or suffer from the weaker global growth and higher migration flows that will inevitably result.In a chapter released ahead of the publication of next month’s World Economic Outlook, the Washington-based IMF said low-income countries had contributed little to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and could not afford to tackle the problem from their own meagre resources.Related: Al Gore: 'The rich have subverted all reason'Related: Climate deniers want to protect the status quo that made them rich Continue reading...

PM expected to contrast her approach with that of Jeremy Corbyn, who has called for more state control at Labour conferenceA strong and properly regulated free-market economy is the only way to guarantee higher living standards, Theresa May will say on Thursday as she contrasts her economic approach with the call for more state control made by Labour at this week’s conference.In a speech to mark the 20th anniversary of the independence of the Bank of England, the prime minister will insist that there are benefits from an open and innovative economy – provided it is reformed and properly regulated. “A free-market economy, operating under the right rules and regulations, is the greatest agent of collective human progress ever created,” May will say.Related: Jeremy Corbyn: neoliberalism is broken and we are now the centre ground Continue reading...

The Labour leader thinks the election this summer is proof that his party is now electable because of socialism not despite it. It’s too early to bet against himIt is remarkable what a difference a single election can make. Even if you lose. Jeremy Corbyn delivered his third – and best – speech as Labour leader to a party giddy with optimism. By reducing the Tories to minority government and increasing Labour’s vote by the biggest amount since 1945, Mr Corbyn has transformed gloom to cheer. That the Labour leader has done so from the left is a vindication of his brand of “modern, progressive socialist” politics. Mr Corbyn’s attachment to socialism is important: since the 1990s Labour leaders have avoided mentioning the word, which they viewed as being synonymous with the then unpopular notions of state control and higher taxes. They preferred instead to declare their loyalty to democratic socialist “values”. Values are less controversial than policies. Values can be shared, whereas policies divide. However, Mr Corbyn’s speech was peppered with plans to intervene in markets where vested interests, represented by the Conservative party, have conspired against the multitude. The Labour leader wants to distinguish his party from the thinking of the last four decades, arguing for a “new model of economic management to replace the failed dogmas of neoliberalism”. His contention is that the party is now electable because of socialism, not despite it.This is stirring stuff. There’s little doubt that Mr Corbyn spoke to the passions of the party, but did he speak to the preoccupations of the wider electorate? His diagnosis is founded on unquestionable truths: that an era of deregulation, privatisation and low taxes for the wealthy came tumbling down with the global financial crisis. Bankers played a leading role in the crisis, but it’s the rest of society that has paid for the crash. This has had profound consequences: most notably class divisions have been politically revived. “Them and us” economics is rooted in the fact the top 1% of society has recovered all the ground it lost while the average worker faces the longest period of falling real-terms pay since the Napoleonic wars. It’s difficult to sell capitalism to those with no capital. Continue reading...

UK slips one place to eighth in competitiveness rankings as Switzerland tops World Economic Forum league tableThe 10th anniversary of the worst downturn since the Great Depression finds the global economy at risk of a fresh crisis and ill-prepared for the disruption likely from the robot age, the World Economic Forum has warned.The body that organises the annual gathering of the global elite in Davos each January used its annual league table of competitiveness to stress that the failure to push through growth and productivity-friendly policies since the crash of 2007-08 had jeopardised chances of a sustained recovery.Related: The eurozone strikes back – why Europe is booming again Continue reading...

The motoring organisation is a market leader with solid cash flows, but private equity owners have left it strugglingHere comes Simon Breakwell, hauled from the crew of non-executive directors, to perform running repairs on the AA as its new chief executive. His first tweak? A delay to an IT upgrade and a warning that an extra £35m must be spent. The shares hit another all-time low.On the plus side, boring talk about computers makes a change from recent excitement, such as last month’s removal of executive chairman Bob Mackenzie for gross misconduct after an altercation with a colleague in the bar of a Surrey hotel. We’ll leave the two sides’ lawyers to chew over the details of the incident and ask a different question. How is that the AA, which ought to be the model of a dull and reliable investment, has performed so dreadfully for shareholders?Related: Business Today: sign up for a morning shot of financial news Continue reading...

Readers respond to shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s pledge to bring billions of pounds’ worth of PFI projects and their staff back under government controlIn your editorial (26 September) on John McDonnell’s proposal that PFI contracts be bought back by a future Labour government you suggest that any such action might be constrained by the need to persuade the financial markets to continue to lend the government money. This was an error on your part: this constraint does not exist.Firstly that is because no government has to borrow. Quantitative easing proved that. In the UK the government (via the Bank of England) has done £435bn of QE, with the result that the government owns nearly a quarter of its own debt now, effectively cancelling it and all the interest payments due on it in the process. What this means is that another £58bn of QE could be used to cover capital costs of PFI without any difficulty. The remaining cost of buying out the service element may be little more and since QE debt carries no interest cost, there may be precisely no cost at all to buying these PFI contracts back into government control as a result. This was precisely the basis of People’s QE, which I created in 2010 and which was one of the platforms on which Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour leader two years ago. In that case the idea that we are beholden to the bond market “confidence fairy” (as Paul Krugman so aptly named it) when proposing such a move is just nonsense. The fact is that if bond markets are truculent any government can just work around them. Continue reading...

Sterling has risen to €1.14 for the first time since early July

Annual study of the nation’s wellbeing also finds residents of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire are Britain’s unhappiestThe inhabitants of Craven, a district in the southern Yorkshire Dales, are the happiest in the country, according to official statistics.At the other end of the scale, the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) annual study of the nation’s happiness and wellbeing found that residents of Hertsmere borough council, on the northern edge of London’s suburban sprawl, were the unhappiest in Britain in the 12 months to the end of March.Related: Business Today: sign up for a morning shot of financial newsRelated: Step aside Denmark. Norway takes world’s happiest nation crown Continue reading...

Ex-MPC member David Blanchflower says there is ‘absolutely no basis’ for Bank of England to raise rates as early as NovemberThe Bank of England has been warned against raising interest rates from as early as November, as a monthly Guardian analysis of the economy indicates pressure growing on households following the Brexit vote.One year since Threadneedle Street’s emergency rate cut to 0.25% from 0.5% to avert a post-Brexit vote recession, the Guardian’s tracker of economic news paints a tougher picture for consumers. As the Bank prepares to reverse the cut with the first rate hike in a decade, senior economists have warned against raising the cost of borrowing for consumers pinched by low wage growth.Related: Should interest rates go up as Brexit approaches? Experts debate the dataRelated: How has the Brexit vote affected the UK economy? September verdict Continue reading...

How has the economy reacted to the vote to leave the EU? Each month we look at key indicators to see what effect the Brexit process has on growth, prosperity and trade in the UK Continue reading...

Two former MPC members differ on what recent indicators mean for the economy, and whether it is time for dearer borrowingProfessor of economics at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, and member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee from June 2006 to May 2009Related: How has the Brexit vote affected the UK economy? September verdict Continue reading...

British consumers are dipping further into their savings amid a squeeze from rising prices and falling real wages, figures showBritish consumers have been dipping further into their savings amid a squeeze from rising prices and falling real wages, figures show, as growth in personal bank deposits fell to the slowest annual rate since the height of the financial crisis.Annual growth in personal deposits with high street banks fell to 2.2% in August, in the weakest month since May 2009, according to figures published by banking trade body UK Finance. There was also about £1bn withdrawn from cash Isa accounts, with tax changes allowing up to £1,000 of interest to be earned tax free.Related: Oil hits 26-month high on supply fears – business live Continue reading...

Treasurer Scott Morrison says ‘cautious and wise’ approach to finances is helping Australia maintain its credit ratingA multibillion-dollar cut to spending on social services and higher-than-expected tax revenue have helped the government deliver a smaller budget deficit than forecast for 2016-17.The treasurer, Scott Morrison, said the smaller deficit illustrated the Coalition had been taking a “cautious and wise” approach to the nation’s finances, helping Australia maintain its credit rating.Related: NDIS rollout targets in doubt because of lack of resourcing, Allan Fels saysRelated: Federal budget 2017: the 10 graphs you need to see | Greg Jericho Continue reading...

London and Frankfurt will lose out to New York and Singapore if UK and EU do not agree deal, says reportLondon and Frankfurt will lose out to New York and Singapore unless a free trade deal on financial services after Brexit is agreed, according to leading City businesses.The report from key banks, law firms and fund managers in the UK proposes a “bespoke” free trade agreement once Britain leaves the EU.Related: New Brexit rules ‘could lead to unskilled workforce crisis’ Continue reading...

Analysts say prices could rise further, in a move that would put upward pressure on UK inflationOil prices jumped to their highest for more than two years on Monday after major producers said output cuts were squeezing supplies.Brent crude leapt by 2.7% to $58.39 (£43.35) a barrel as analysts said prices could rise to levels not seen since 2014, in a move that would put further upward pressure on inflation in the UK. The oil price squeeze has been orchestrated by the Opec oil producers’ group but could be exacerbated if Turkey follows through on threats to block supplies from Kurdistan.Related: Bank of England warns a consumer debt crisis could cost banks £30bn Continue reading...

John McDonnell is right to call for the end of PFIs but, like the rest of his agenda, it won’t be easyIn a conference speech stuffed with more crowd-titillating plums than the proverbial pudding, John McDonnell betrayed a confidence in the Labour party’s prospects of power that he may come to regret. But however much Conservatives make hay with the cost implications of what even his friends would regard as a wildly ambitious economic agenda, the shadow chancellor put one new and important policy on the table: the huge and continuing cost of private finance initiatives (PFIs).For more than 20 years, successive administrations have depended on what are essentially hire purchase deals to buy new schools, hospitals and prisons. In 2006, the peak year, contracts were signed for more than 70 projects worth more than £7bn. The deals allowed long-overdue renewal of the public infrastructure, but at a cost that is now eating into the sustainability of the services they were built to provide. Mr McDonnell was – it soon emerged – exaggerating when he told an ecstatic conference that Labour would take them all back in house (a project with an incalculable price tag), but the party is right to pledge to try to find ways of cutting the cost. Continue reading...

Meghnad Desai says greater analysis is required and David Reed says black and minority ethnic groups in Britain seem to be doing pretty well. Plus letters from Peter Cave and Ian WatsonThe raw truth of the Guardian report on minorities (Minorities report: it’s still snowy white at the pinnacle, 25 September) is undeniable. But to make progress we need much more grainy detail than we have. What are “the positions of most power”? Are they all in the public sector or large corporations rather than in corner grocery shops or small or medium sized enterprises (chemist shops)?We also need a breakdown of black and minority ethnic groups by their constituent groups. South Asians are reputed to prefer private sector jobs or self-employment rather than public sector or private corporate sector jobs. Are these positions of power? Continue reading...

UK central bank warns that £30bn of loans could turn sour if Britain’s economy falls into recession

Stress tests reveal lenders are underestimating exposure to bad debt in face of an economic downturn

This autumn marks the anniversaries of two notable economic humiliations. But they are as nothing to what might happen if we leave the EUThis is quite an anniversary year for great British economic disasters. Last weekend saw the 25th anniversary of the ignominious exit of the pound from the European exchange rate mechanism – “the first Brexit”, and, I still hope, the only one.Then this November will see the 50th anniversary of the dramatic 14% devaluation of the pound – an episode from which the Labour government of Harold Wilson never quite recovered, not least because Wilson made the mistake of proclaiming that “the pound in your pocket has not been devalued” – based on a brief by Treasury officials which was aimed at explaining that, from the point of view of the pocket or purse, it was only the price of imports that were going up, and spending on imports was only a small fraction of total household spending. Continue reading...

Credit ratings agency warns hard Brexit would damage economy’s long-term health hours after Theresa May’s Florence speechThe Treasury has hit back at warnings by the credit ratings agency Moody’s that the likelihood of a hard Brexit and a squeeze on the public finances would damage the UK economy’s long-term health.Announcing its decision just hours after Theresa May gave her speech in Florence on the government’s Brexit strategy, the ratings agency said it had cut the UK’s credit rating to Aa2 from Aa1 partly in response to the looming prospect of the UK’s access to the European Union’s single market and customs union being reduced. Continue reading...

European and North American visitors lead the way in July, with spending also increasing, ONS figures showOverseas visitors flocked to Britain in record numbers in July and spent more than ever in response to the improved spending power offered by the low pound.Non-UK residents made 4m visits to Britain in July, an increase of 6% on last year and spent £2.7bn, up 3% on July 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics.Related: Pound slips against euro ahead of Theresa May's Brexit speech - business live Continue reading...

Quantitative easing allowed the wealthy to get out of cash and into assets, writes Martin London; the provisionally passed Ceta deal is TTIP by the back door, says John Airs. Plus letters by David Dodd and Paul NicolsonThe debt crisis Larry Elliott predicts (Borrowed time: Threadneedle Street is right to fear a bubble, 19 September), is the result of our failure to resolve the financial crisis of 2008. The credit crunch demonstrated that western economies were living beyond their means and that there was too much money and too much debt in the system. The required solution was for creditors to give up a considerable portion of their wealth, and return living space to debtors. Significant austerity was unavoidable.Governments chose quantitative easing instead, which allowed the wealthy to get out of cash and into assets, retaining or regaining any loss caused by the crash. The rest of us had to bear the brunt of austerity: cuts in benefits, the erosion of full-time jobs, the rise of the gig economy and increases in rents. Additional debt, funded by the liquidity of quantitative easing, enabled millions temporarily to retain a semblance of normal living: but the unequal distribution of wealth has not gone away. Continue reading...

Boost for government as Britain’s borrowing fell in August, as Ryanair faces critics at its AGM

Public finances still rising as a proportion of GDP despite unexpectedly strong figures for AugustBritain’s public sector spending deficit dropped to its lowest August total since 2007 after an increase in VAT revenues and a squeeze on local authority borrowing.The deficit in August stood at £5.7bn, down 18% compared with the same month last year, beating forecasts of £7.1bn in a Reuters poll of economists.Related: UK public finances beat forecasts, as Ryanair boss apologises over cancellations – business live Continue reading...

America’s central bank will begin unwinding its huge stimulus programme next month, as it leaves borrowing costs on hold

The sell-off of its $4.5tn portfolio, bought to keep interest rates down after the financial crash, is as unprecedented as the stimulus programme that came before

Retail sales rise by more than expected, particularly clothing and footwear, despite squeeze on household budgetsBritain’s consumers continued spending after the summer sales, despite the steepest annual growth in non-food store prices in almost three decades.Growth in retail sales volumes rose by 1% in August after the Office for National Statistics revised the figure for July up to 0.6%, beating analysts’ expectations for an increase of 0.2%. The pound leapt against the dollar on the figures, which add weight to a potential rate hike by the Bank of England for the first time in a decade.Related: UK growth will trail Italy, France and Germany next year, says OECD Continue reading...

Pound’s Brexit slide has pushed up inflation and dampened purchasing power, says forecastItaly, France and Germany will grow faster than Britain next year as Brexit uncertainty continues to weigh on consumer confidence and deter much-needed business investment, according to the latest economic forecasts by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.The UK’s GDP growth will drop from 1.6% this year to 1% next year, in line with the OECD’s previous forecast, but Italy’s national income will grow by 1.2% in 2018, up 0.4 percentage points from the forecast in the June.

Forthcoming meetings offer critical opportunity to start serious discussion on rebuilding global consensusNext month, when finance ministers and central bank governors from more than 180 countries gather in Washington DC for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, they will confront a global economic order under increasing strain. Having failed to deliver the inclusive economic prosperity of which it is capable, that order is subject to growing doubts – and mounting challenges. Barring a course correction, the risks that today’s order will yield to a world economic non-order will only intensify.The current international economic order, spearheaded by the United States and its allies after the second world war, is underpinned by multilateral institutions, including the IMF and the World Bank. These institutions were designed to crystallise member countries’ obligations, and they embodied a set of best economic-policy practices that evolved into what became known as the “Washington consensus.”Related: Five reasons why global stock markets are surging | Nick Fletcher Continue reading...

All the day’s economic and financial news, as global markets touch new record levels ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting

Growth and inflation are out of sync in most developed nations, causing bubbles and crisesSince the summer of 2016, the global economy has been in a period of moderate expansion, with the growth rate accelerating gradually. What has not picked up, at least in the advanced economies, is inflation. The question is why.In the United States, Europe, Japan, and other developed economies, the recent growth acceleration has been driven by an increase in aggregate demand, a result of continued expansionary monetary and fiscal policies, as well as higher business and consumer confidence. That confidence has been driven by a decline in financial and economic risk, together with the containment of geopolitical risks, which, as a result, have so far had little impact on economies and markets. Continue reading...

Bank of England governor says labour shortages could also raise wages in short term, but Brexit would have only modest impact on pricesA sharp fall in migrant workers coming to Britain as a consequence of Brexit could push up wages and cause a spike in inflation in the short term, according to the governor of the Bank of England.Mark Carney was setting out his view on inflation days after the Bank’s rate-setting panel indicated it could raise interest rates for the first time in a decade.Related: UK interest rates stay at 0.25% but Bank of England hints rise is looming Continue reading...

All the day’s economic and financial news, as world share prices touch new record levels

Investors are picking up on positive signals coming from US, China and Europe, and easing tensions over North KoreaGlobal stock markets are at record highs, with the MSCI All Country World Index reaching a new peak on Monday and both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 heading for uncharted territory once more. European and UK markets are also attracting investors again, although they are below their best levels owing to the strength of the euro and the pound making exports pricier. Here are five reasons why investors are buying into shares.

Near-zero rates have spurred borrowing and left consumers, businesses and governments at risk, says Basel institutionA new warning has been issued about the growing risk of a “debt trap” if interest rates around the world stay near zero, which has encouraged borrowing by households, businesses and governments.The Bank for International Settlements – known as the central bankers’ bank – highlighted the vulnerability of consumer, business and government finances to interest rate increases in its 174-page quarterly report. Claudio Borio, the head of the monetary and economic department, described this as “a defining question for the global economy”.The increase in the percentage of firms unable to cover their interest payments with their earnings does not bode well Continue reading...

As Bank of England hints about a hike, stimulus from the government – including removal of the pay cap – could lead it to push further ahead on ratesWe’ve heard it all before. The Bank of England is putting debt-laden consumers on notice of higher borrowing costs, yet again.But this time, just maybe, interest rates could finally be on the march from as early as November after more than 10 years without a hike. While the first rise may simply serve to reverse last year’s emergency rate cut, there are signals that the Bank may then push still further ahead.Related: The eurozone strikes back – why Europe is booming againRelated: UK interest rate rise – what it could mean for savers and mortgage holders Continue reading...

The virtual currency’s success reflects the continuing lack of trust in traditional banking following the credit crunchWhen the boss of Wall Street’s biggest bank calls a bubble, the world inevitably sits up and listens, albeit with a sense of historically weighted irony: of course an investment bank boss would spot disaster after his industry presided over the last one. Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JP Morgan, said last week that the ascendancy of the virtual currency bitcoin – which has risen in price from just over $2 in 2011 to more than $4,000 at points this year – reminded him of tulip fever in 17th-century Holland. “It is worse than tulip bulbs,” he said. “It could be at $20,000 before this happens, but it will eventually blow up. I am just shocked that anyone can’t see it for what it is.”Dimon’s comments are an open invitation for derision from those who, rightly, point out that although JP Morgan may be top of the Wall Street heap, that heap is far from being the moral high ground. Under Dimon’s leadership, it has agreed a $13bn settlement with US regulators over selling dodgy mortgage securities – the instruments behind the credit crunch – and its run-ins with watchdogs include a $264m fine last year for hiring the children of Chinese officials in order to win lucrative business in return. Continue reading...

Chris Riddell on the squadron of woes currently afflicting the government Continue reading...

Structural reforms since financial crisis are slowly but surely starting to bear fruit, with the lowest unemployment since 2009 and production ratcheted upIt was a story few predicted: the eurozone is growing faster than the United States. When Jean-Claude Juncker gave his annual state of the union speech on Wednesday last week, Europe’s booming economy was near the top of his list. Ten years since the crisis struck, “Europe’s economy is finally bouncing back,” the European commission president told MEPs. Detailing the economic resurgence, but also referring to the EU’s newfound unity after Britain’s vote to leave, Juncker declared: “the wind is back in Europe’s sails”.

Some on both sides of the Channel believe that trade and prosperity will win the day. But in the EU just as in the UK, politics now trumps economicsThere is a shared belief among Leavers and Remainers to the effect that when the Brexit cliff-edge comes into view, London and Brussels will hatch a face-saving compromise.It’s not entirely clear what kind of gleaming alloy can be forged from the fire of claim and counterclaim on either side of the channel, but there should be a way, they think, to cut through the noise and make something solid and lasting that shows neither side is entirely inept. Continue reading...

Jean-Claude Juncker believes Europe is starting to recover at last. But the picture from the union’s most fallible economy is very mixedIs the eurozone on the mend? Jean-Claude Juncker certainly thinks so. The EU president was upbeat in Brussels last week as he gave his annual state-of-the-union address, proclaiming that “the wind is back in Europe’s sails”.Juncker’s optimism appeared to match the view from Greece, the currency bloc’s problem child. In Athens only the previous week, the visiting French president, Emmanuel Macron, had been even more enthusiastic, declaring against the backdrop of the Acropolis that Greece’s prolonged crisis was over, and that therefore Europe’s was too.Related: Weakest eurozone economies on long road to recoveryRelated: The eurozone strikes back - why Europe is booming again Continue reading...

Bank of England MPC member says rising inflation and stronger household spending merit increase ‘as early as coming months’The prospect of the first interest rate rise in a decade has sent the pound to its highest level since the day after the Brexit vote and put debt-laden consumers on notice of higher borrowing costs.The rally in the pound against the dollar provided some relief for Briton’s travelling abroad and comes amid heightened expectations that the Bank of England could increase rates as soon as November.Related: UK interest rates stay at 0.25% but Bank of England hints rise is looming Continue reading...

The Bank of England has hinted the first rate rise in almost a decade is now likely, and soon. So how much will it cost?A member of the Bank of England’s rate-setting committee has fuelled speculation that interest rates could rise as soon as November. Gertjan Vlieghe put forward the arguments for a rise in rates “as early as in the coming months” in a speech to economists in London. Continue reading...