Well done to George Monbiot for his blistering attack on the excesses of the financial world (Opinion, 9 September). But he sets out the problems without offering solutions. Here is one suggestion. The dysfunction of speculative investment could be tackled by slowing down the frenzied activity of stock markets. Suppose it became illegal to part with shares within a year of purchase. This would encourage the view of shares as long-term investments in enterprises with the expectation of regular, but not exorbitant, dividends. Shareholders might then take more interest in the management of the enterprise, including the welfare of its workforce.China is partly doing this, as reported on 11 July by Jennifer Duggan, with shareholders with large stakes in listed firms currently banned from selling for six months. Monbiot’s article should be widely discussed by the many people who have suddenly realised that politics deserves their attention. Perhaps they will begin to clamour for social justice for all and an end to the scandalous practices that he cites. Certainly it should underpin the thinking and decisions of the next Labour shadow cabinet.

United Nations general assembly agrees set of principles on debt restructuring, although US, UK and Germany vote againstThe United Nations general assembly has approved a set of principles to resolve disputes between bankrupt countries and their creditors that the former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said would have “avoided the pitfalls of the Greek crisis”.The vote, with 136 supporting the scheme to six against, and 41 abstentions, comes after years of lobbying by Argentina and latterly Greece for a debt restructuring process to shield them from draconian cutbacks and reforms that threaten their political and economic stability. Continue reading...

US investment bank expects oversupply to continue into next yearThe price of oil could more than halve again, to just $20 (£13) a barrel, experts at Goldman Sachs are predicting, a shift which would spell big savings for motorists but cast doubt on the viability of North Sea oilfields.

Rate-setting member Kristin Forbes outlines how failure of strong pound to hold down inflation could prompt early riseA senior Bank of England official has raised the prospect of interest rates rising sooner than expected if economists are proved wrong about the power of a strong pound to hold down inflation.

Construction of public housing fell by 15.6%, while the 0.8% growth in private building work was slowest since March 2013, offical data showsBritish construction output dipped unexpectedly in July, reversing a bounce in June, after the biggest annual fall in housebuilding in more than two years.A major driver of the decline was a year-on-year fall in the amount of new housing being built, which dropped by 2.5%, the first decline since March 2013. Continue reading...

Prime minister targets prisons and children in care as he seeks to open up contracts to small businessesDavid Cameron will herald new moves to open up public services to private providers when he hails the role of “insurgent companies” and speaks of the benefit of “breaking state monopolies”.In a speech outlining the government’s approach to the autumn spending review, in which George Osborne will outline £20bn of cuts, the prime minister will cite children in care services and prisons as “standout areas” for reform.Opening up contracts to small businesses spreads entrepreneurship and drives innovation Continue reading...

Downgrade reflects country’s struggle to regain investor confidence as political turmoil drives growing government deficitBrazil’s financial markets have fallen after Standard & Poor’s cut the country’s sovereign rating to junk.The drop from investment grade, which came sooner than many in the market had expected, reflected President Dilma Rousseff’s struggle to regain investor confidence as political turmoil drives a growing government deficit in Latin America’s largest economy. Continue reading...

Clamour for tax cuts and greater public spending likely to rise after low euro fuels rapid growthIreland is on track to maintain its stellar growth record after the low euro helped boost exports in the second quarter of the year.The government predicted GDP would expand by 6% this year, matching last year’s post-crash record and maintaining Ireland as the fastest-growing economy in the eurozone.

Finance minister expects 6% growth this year, as Irish economy maintains position as fastest-growing in the eurozoneIreland’s government expects the economy to grow by about 6% this year, far more than originally forecast after data showed that it grew by 1.9% quarter-on-quarter from April to June.After increasing by more than 5% in 2014, Ireland’s fast-recovering economy was already set to be the best performing in the EU for the second successive year when the government forecast in April it would grow by 4% this year. Continue reading...

Developments in China were ‘the main focus of the committee’s decision’ to leave interest rates unchanged, the Bank’s minutes showBank of England policymakers have offered a reassuring verdict on the impact of China’s market meltdown, insisting that while it would “add to the global headwinds” facing the UK, their plans to raise interest rates remained on track.One member of the Bank’s nine-member monetary policy committee, former CBI economist Ian McCafferty, voted for an immediate increase in borrowing costs from their record low of 0.5% at the meeting that concluded on Wednesday – the same voting pattern as in August.Related: Bank of England votes 8-1 to leave UK interest rates unchanged - live updates Continue reading...

Despite another slew of poor data sending stock markets down, Beijing will meet its 7% growth target and promises it will never start a currency warChina’s economy faces challenges and downward pressures but there is no risk of a hard landing as the government is fully capable of supporting growth, premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday.

Britain does not have a strike problem – so why the need for new legislation? The government should be working constructively with unions to raise productivityThe Conservative government plans legislation later this year that will heavily circumscribe workers’ already limited freedom to take industrial action.Neither the coalition, nor the previous Labour government, saw any need to revisit strike legislation. So, what has changed?Related: Government's trade union proposals not fit for purpose, watchdog saysThe Conservative proposals are ideological rather than practical and have a weak evidential and legal basisRelated: The Guardian view on trade union reform: partisan politics and rotten policy | Editorial Continue reading...

The jobless figure fell as expected last month from 6.3% in July and the total number of people in work rose by 7,400 driven by part-time jobsAustralia’s unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in August despite disappointing economic growth and turmoil on the world’s stock markets.Related: Economic management is now Tony Abbott's weakest claim to re-election | Stephen Koukoulas Continue reading...

Japan’s Nikkei surges by 7.7%, its biggest gain since 2008 after China pledges new spending measure to support growth

Surge of 7.7% in Nikkei 225 index comes after prime minister’s pledge of corporate tax cuts, though long-term questions over ‘Abenomics’ remainJapan’s stock market soared on Wednesday after the prime minister, Shinzō Abe, promised to cut corporate taxes and maintain the ultra-low borrowing costs that have supported the country’s economic recovery over the last two years.The Nikkei 225 index rose by 7.7%, its biggest one-day rise since the 2008 global financial crisis, as Abe, fresh from his recent re-election as LDP leader, said he planned to cut corporation tax by three percentage points and sounded optimistic on reaching a trans-Pacific trade deal. Continue reading...

Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citi and former Bank of England policymaker, warns China’s woes are set to spreadA “hard landing” for China is likely to plunge the world economy into recession in the next two years, Willem Buiter, chief global economist at Citigroup and a former Bank of England policymaker, has said.As the Federal Reserve in Washington prepares to decide whether to defy warnings of economic fragility and push up interest rates next week, a research note by Citi’s experts warns of a 55% probability of global recession. Continue reading...

Fragile world economy takes toll on manufacturing as trade deficit widens to £3.4bn in July from £2.6bn in JuneFears are growing about the strength of Britain’s economic recovery, after sharp falls in exports and manufacturing output offered the first evidence the global slowdown may be taking its toll.Britain’s overall trade deficit in goods and services widened to £3.4bn in July, from £2.6bn in June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Related: UK manufacturing hit by turmoil in China Continue reading...

AGR says women must be ‘actively encouraged’ to apply to UK grad schemes as proportion of female hires remains stagnant for last five years

Germany leads the way as better than expected eurozone performance this year sends FTSE 100 and Dow Jones soaringGlobal markets yesterday shrugged off a big fall in China’s monthly imports after figures showed the eurozone economy strengthened this year.Related: Markets rally on stimulus hopes after Chinese imports slump - as it happenedRelated: China plans stock market 'circuit breaker' to curb volatility Continue reading...

Eurozone growth figures are stronger than first estimated, but a big fall in Chinese imports and exports show its economy remains shaky

UK government survey records only 57% of 21 to 30-year-old graduates are in high-skilled employmentYoung graduates in England have enjoyed a pick-up in average pay, but the proportion in high-skilled work has fallen, according to government figures.Echoing other reports on the high proportion of graduates in non-graduate roles, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) said 57% of graduates aged 21-30 were in high-skilled employment in the second quarter of this year. That compares with 63% in 2006. Continue reading...

Trading would be suspended for half an hour if the indexes fall by 5% according to a proposal by the securities regulatorChina is planning a “circuit breaker” mechanism to prevent any further losses on its volatile stock markets.Related: Weak Chinese trade data fuels slowdown fears - business liveRelated: China's market turmoil: leaders' refusal to learn lessons makes more volatility a sure bet Continue reading...

Yanis Varoufakis is among signatories to a letter asking Britain and the EU to sign up to a nine-point UN code putting democratic rights – and not the market – at the heart of international governanceLeading economists have demanded that Britain and the EU back a proposal to the UN that aims to protect heavily indebted countries including Argentina and Greece from predatory hedge funds, which they claim bring already struggling nations to their knees.The former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, the Texas University professor James Galbraith and Martin Guzman, a specialist in sovereign bankruptcy at Columbia University, are among the signatories to a letter in the Guardian calling for rules that would also have prevented Brussels from forcing Athens to accept harsh austerity without offering substantial debt relief.Related: Europe should back debt crisis principles at the UN | Letter from Yanis Varoufakis, James Galbraith and others Continue reading...

New research finds 3.2 million families spent at least 25% of their gross monthly pay servicing unsecured debt in 2014The number of households struggling with problem debt grew by a quarter between 2012 and last year, as stagnating wages forced a growing number to borrow to get by, according to the TUC.By 2014, 3.2 million families were spending at least 25% of their gross monthly pay on servicing unsecured debts, the definition of problem debt. The figure for 2012 was 2.5 million, according to research commissioned by the TUC and Unison. Continue reading...

On 10 September, the United Nations general assembly will vote on nine principles concerning the restructuring of sovereign debts. Abiding by such principles would have avoided the pitfalls of the Greek crisis, in which political representatives gave in to creditor demands despite their lack of economic sense and their disastrous social impact. This public interest resolution must be supported by all European states and brought into the public debate.The Greek crisis has made clear that individual states acting alone cannot negotiate reasonable conditions for the restructuring of their debt within the current political framework, even though these debts are often unsustainable over the long term. Throughout its negotiations with creditor institutions, Greece faced a stubborn refusal to consider any debt restructuring, even though this refusal stood in contradiction to the IMF’s own recommendations. Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the latest events across the world economy and the financial markets

If Fed raises interest rates every time there is a sign of wage growth, workers’ share will be ratcheted down – never recovering what was lost in the downturnAt the end of every August, central bankers and financiers from around the world meet in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the US Federal Reserve’s economic symposium. This year, the participants were greeted by a large group of mostly young people, including many African- and Hispanic Americans.The group was not there so much to protest as to inform. They wanted the assembled policymakers to know that their decisions affect ordinary people, not just the financiers who are worried about what inflation does to the value of their bonds or what interest-rate hikes might do to their stock portfolios. And their green T-shirts were emblazoned with the message that for these Americans, there has been no recovery. Continue reading...

World Economic Forum report on fostering equality has Britain underperforming compared to other advanced economiesThe UK must tackle its gender pay gap and improve access to education if it is to reduce inequality, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) on how governments can foster inclusive growth.The Forum, the body behind the high-powered annual Davos summit, has produced 15 measures of how well countries foster equality as they grow their economies. Continue reading...

The Aussie dollar hits another six-year low amid ongoing concerns about China and speculation over a possible US interest rate riseThe Australian share market fell at the start of trading on Monday amid continued uncertainty about the Chinese economy and US interest rates.The S&P/ASX200 dipped more than 1% points to 4,985 points after falls last week on Wall Street and in Europe. The Nikkei in Tokyo also opened down 130 points or 0.7% as Asian investors nervously eye the reopening of the Chinese markets after a four-day break for last week’s military parade in Beijing.Related: China's central bank governor says yuan has stabilised against the dollarRelated: The Guardian view on global currencies: it’s the economy, stupid | Editorial Continue reading...

Manufacturers’ organisation halves forecast for sector as economic slowdown in far east compounds export woesThe economic downturn in China has compounded pressures on UK manufacturers and hit their output and exports, a leading business group will warn on Monday as it slashes its outlook for the sector.Sales to the domestic consumer market and booming car production have not been enough to make up for a drop in overseas demand, says the manufacturers’ organisation EEF. Those manufacturers making mechanical equipment have been particularly hard hit as waning orders from China coincide with flagging demand from the oil and gas sector, itself hit by a plunging oil price. Continue reading...

Joseph Rowntree Foundation says for many low-paid workers, the national living wage will make them no better off because of benefit cutsSingle parents on low incomes face declining living standards over the next five years even if they work full time, as benefits cuts announced in the budget more than offset the introduction of George Osborne’s “national living wage”, according to new research.A comprehensive analysis of the impact of the chancellor’s budget, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), identifies single-parent families as one of the groups to be hit hardest by the package of changes the chancellor announced on 8 July. Continue reading...

Gamble by Alexis Tsipras backfires as New Democracy draws level with ruling leftists, raising fears of more political uncertaintyThe stage is set for one of the most exciting elections in recent Greek history after polls showed the former ruling leftwing party Syriza running neck and neck with the centre-right New Democracy party barely two weeks before the snap ballot.Alexis Tsipras’s surprise move to tighten his grip on power, with what he had hoped would be a fresh mandate to implement spending cuts and reforms, is showing all the signs of having backfired. Diehard leftists, appalled by the anti-austerity movement’s spectacular U-turn, appear to be leaving Syriza in droves.Related: Alexis Tsipras is down but far from out Continue reading...

Director of the Central Statistical Office who became chairman of the Royal Opera HouseClaus Moser, the government statistician and former chairman of the Royal Opera House, who has died aged 92, could have become a professional musician, but he chose academia, and academic honours were thrust upon him. Later, banking and business claimed him too, but his passion for the arts underpinned the many roles he undertook with a quick mind and dedication.His cultured Jewish parents, Lotte and Ernest, had to flee to Britain from Berlin with their two sons in 1935 to escape Nazi persecution. Claus thrived at Frensham Heights school, in Farnham, Surrey, where his musical talents were quickly recognised; he joined the choir and played the piano in a quartet. In 1940 he was given a place at the London School of Economics, but with the fall of France, he was interned at Huyton Camp, Liverpool, along with hundreds of other “friendly enemy aliens”, many of whom, like him, went on to have distinguished careers in their adopted country. Continue reading...

The ECB’s new tree sculpture offers an ironic counterpoint to the lack of growth in the world’s second-biggest economyThe European Central Bank proudly announced on Friday that it is erecting a 17-metre-high bronze and granite tree outside its Frankfurt headquarters – an artwork intended to “convey a sense of stability and growth” – and, with its gilded leaves and massive trunk, presumably also wealth and power.But when Mario Draghi, the ECB’s president, appeared before the world’s media on Thursday at his regular press conference, it was the limit to central bankers’ power that was on display. Continue reading...

Jeremy Corbyn looks like a racing certainty. But whatever happens, the election will be more definite than the endless false alarms sounded over the base rateThat bookmaker Paddy Power had not only stopped taking bets on Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership of the Labour party but was actually paying out was, shall we say, hot news. While it did not exactly spoil my holiday, it did make me kick myself that I had not placed a small wager on Corbyn a month or so ago, when the quoted odds were 100-1 against him.I am something of a horseracing man, although I hasten to add that I only bet in tiny amounts. As the presenters of the Today programme’s tips know, the old music-hall joke applies all too often: “I follow the horses. The trouble is that the horses I follow also follow the horses… ” Continue reading...

Despite volatile markets and a deceptively tepid recovery, the Federal Reserve looks unequivocally committed to raising interest rates – but try getting any of the candidates for president to admit such action could undermine the recoveryThere was something for everyone in August’s US jobs report. The headline figure for jobs growth was less than expected, but the last two months were revised up. Wages grew, but the number of people out of the workforce remains worryingly high. What’s a central banker to do? Sadly the answer is exactly what they want to do, and no one – not even Donald Trump – seems to think that’s an issue.At their annual retreat in Jackson Hole last month, several top officials of the Federal Reserve board reiterated their desire to raise interest rates, even if the recent market turmoil may have put these plans on hold for the moment. Continue reading...

In an exclusive extract from his new book, After The Storm, Vince Cable reveals the tensions at the heart of the coalition

Before, he was known as St Vince, the straight-talking, ballroom-dancing MP who predicted the crash. Five years on, Vince Cable is without a job – and ready to lift the lid on the Tories

Lower commodities prices and bond yields, slower growth in China and narrowing interest rate differentials all contributed to the fallOngoing global economic worries have pushed the Australian dollar to a fresh six-year low.The Aussie is currently buying 69.11 US cents after more selling overnight in the wake of jobs figures from America which showed unemployment had fallen further than expected.Related: US economy adds 173,000 jobs as unemployment rate drops to 5.1%Related: The Australian dollar is 'smashed' and teetering over the US70c precipice Continue reading...

Department store’s figures down from last August, as high street sales saw biggest fall since height of financial crisisJohn Lewis has reported a fourth week of falling sales in the latest sign that retailers endured a grim month in August.The department store said sales for the week ending 29 August were £81.7m, down 3.4% compared with last year. They fell 5.9% in the previous week and were 3% lower over the four weeks to 29 August. Continue reading...

Iron and oil producers proved resilient during the crash of 2008-09 but are now struggling as commodities prices declineIn the mining town of Port Hedland, 1,500km north of Perth, modest prefabricated homes called fibro shacks, which were changing hands for more than A$1m four years ago, are now failing to find a buyer at a third of the price. Apartment blocks hurriedly tacked together by developers at the peak of the country’s boom stand empty, because their promised supply of “fly-in-fly-out” mineworkers has dried up, along with the jobs they were brought in to do.In 2011, the iron ore-rich Pilbara region of north-west Australia was on the frontier of a 21st century gold rush, this time with iron ore as the main prize – driven by China’s formidable appetite for natural resources to build up its infrastructure and modernise its economy. Continue reading...