Economics | The Guardian

EU government ministers and business leaders are racing to begin new era of cooperation with Tehran – regardless of what US and Israeli sceptics sayAs debate rages among politicians and pundits in Washington over whether to endorse last month’s historic nuclear compromise with Iran, key European allies have already given their verdict: a resounding thumbs-up.Government ministers and business leaders in France, Germany, Italy and elsewhere in the EU are racing to open up a new era of diplomatic, trade, investment and possible future military cooperation with Tehran, regardless of what American and Israeli sceptics say. Continue reading...

Dodd-Frank Act forces US corporations to reveal what their CEOs earn compared with the average worker, but some companies are already embracing pay transparency to build corporate reputation, says Phil DrewInequality is back in the spotlight as the US Securities and Exchange Commission prepares to vote on pay ratios. For the first time, America’s largest businesses could be forced to publish how much more their chief executives earn than the average worker.The disclosure, required under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, has long been in the pipeline. If voted in, businesses can expect the new rules to inspire greater levels of scrutiny. Research by Harvard Business School shows people have no idea how much CEOs earn and, when asked, grossly underestimate their boss’s pay. In the US, CEOs earn up to 300 times more than the average salary, yet most estimate the gap to be a fraction of this, at 30 times the average wage.Related: Growth is not the answer to inequalityRelated: Two cheers for the Dodd-Frank Act – but Wall Street culture needs radical changeRelated: Business must collaborate - without it the world is brutal and terrifyingRelated: Don’t blame rising inequality on technological change | Owen Jones Continue reading...

Latest PMI figures suggest economic recovery is slowing, with possible knock-on effects on Bank of England interest rate risesBritish services companies grew less than expected last month as hiring eased to its slowest pace since March 2014, suggesting the economic recovery weakened at the start of the second half of this year.Wednesday’s Markit/Cips services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 57.4 in July from 58.5 in June, undershooting a Reuters forecast for 58.0 but still indicating expansion among services businesses. Continue reading...

Global research by Ipsos Mori also shows that Brazilians’ confidence in their economy has declined considerably during the last five yearsBrazil has been through a lot in the past couple of years (and that is not limited to the national football team’s 7-1 thrashing by Germany in the semi-final of their own World Cup). In June, the Latin American powerhouse posted its worst economic results in six years with a year-on-year drop of 1.6% in GDP.This economic faltering is being felt by the country’s inhabitants. Three years ago, 57% of Brazilians thought their economy was in good health, according to the results of a global poll by Ipsos Mori. But the latest figures for July this year show that figure has now dropped to just 12%, although that is a small rise on the 9% recorded in June. Continue reading...

The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, admits cause for concern in Brazil's darkening political and economic climate, but says Olympic organisers would not fall prey to the gloom. Brazil's economic struggles and a huge corruption scandal have engulfed the nation one year ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games, while some venues, such as the velodrome and hockey pitches, are only half complete Continue reading...

NIESR claims that a haircut of 55% on Greek debt is needed to give the country a chance of reducing its debt to 120% of GDPGreece’s economy will suffer fresh damage from the austerity measures demanded by its creditors and will remain stuck in permanent depression unless it receives substantial debt relief, one of the UK’s leading thinktanks has warned.The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the increases in VAT reluctantly accepted by the Syriza-led coalition in Athens in exchange for a new bail out will result in a 1% fall in national output in 2016.Related: Greek bank shares slump again but creditor talks make progress - as it happenedRelated: After the Greek crisis, it's time for a new deal on debt Continue reading...

Independent review shows abiding concern over economic deficit, and may fuel doubt about policies of Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy CorbynPolling undertaken for an independent review being led by Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP and former coordinator of the party’s 2015 manifesto, shows Britain’s voters do not back an anti-austerity message but instead believe the country must live within its means and make cutting the deficit its top priority.The findings, given to the Guardian, are likely to make difficult reading for those that say Labour’s path to electoral recovery lies in the party adopting a stronger anti-austerity stance than in the run-up to this year’s election.Related: Public opinion doesn't matter in the Labour leadership election. I'm following my conscience and Jeremy CorbynRelated: Labour leadership vote: Harriet Harman asks MPs to vet new party members Continue reading...

There would have been risks in restructuring Europe’s debt, but running those risks would have been well worth itThe International Monetary Fund’s acknowledgement that Greece’s debt is unsustainable could prove to be a watershed moment for the global financial system. Clearly, heterodox policies to deal with high debt burdens need to be taken more seriously, even in some advanced countries.Ever since the onset of the Greek crisis, there have been basically three schools of thought. First, there is the view of the troika (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the IMF), which holds that the eurozone’s debt-distressed periphery (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain) requires strong policy discipline to prevent a short-term liquidity crisis from morphing into a long-term insolvency problem.Related: Greek banking shares take another hammering as key talks continue - live Continue reading...

MP dismisses ‘plots and name-calling’, and urges campaign of ‘malice-free decency’ in style of Abraham LincolnJeremy Corbyn has brushed aside suggestions that he would face an internal coup to depose him if he became Labour leader, saying he would follow the example of Abraham Lincoln who acted as a unifying figure after the American civil war.Established party figures, led by Neil Kinnock and Peter Mandelson, have warned of the “dangers” of a Corbyn victory. Corbyn, in Leeds at the launch of an economic plan to rejuvenate the north of England, said: “Plots and double plots and sub-plots and plotting – it’s fascinating. I think Abraham Lincoln made a point. At the end of the American civil war he said, ‘with malice toward none and charity towards all’ we will go forward, I am sure that is the right way to do things.” Continue reading...

Making a case for Brexit based on events in Greece doesn’t make sense unless you have a distorted view of Syriza’s failures and the reasons for the crisisIs the Greek crisis a reason for Britain to quit the European Union? Several Guardian columnists – Owen Jones, George Monbiot and Suzanne Moore – have argued that it is. But this is mistaken. Their conclusions are based on a distorted view of what is happening in Greece.Related: Greece doesn’t want to leave Europe, and neither should Britain | Alan JohnsonWhat is progressive about people not paying taxes and retiring under the age of 50?David Cameron has been careless in calling such a vote and blithely assuming he can rely on Labour backing yes solidly Continue reading...

World’s leading economies still paying trillions in subsidies despite pledges to phase them out, new figures showSubsidies for fossil fuels amount to $1,000 (£640) a year for every citizen living in the G20 group of the world’s leading economies, despite the group’s pledge in 2009 to phase out support for coal, oil and gas.The [new] figures reveal the true extent to which individual countries are subsidising pollution from fossil fuelsRelated: Fossil fuels subsidised by $10m a minute, says IMF Continue reading...

Scientists are still attempting to gauge what possible effects the melting of the Arctic ice sheet will have on the British weather. For example, is the Gulf Stream going to slow down sufficiently to give us colder winters and are we already getting more storms during the summer because the jet stream has moved?So, it is a surprise to see a confident prediction of one potential effect. According to the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, the lack of polar ice is going to make us wealthier. Continue reading...

Banks lose 30% as Athens stock market opens for the first time since late JuneThe full extent of the damage caused by the Greek crisis was laid bare when the first day of stock market trading after five weeks of economic paralysis saw shares lose a sixth of their value.Bank stocks bore the brunt of a wave of pent-up selling that eclipsed anything seen in the past three decades on the Athens stock market, with three of the leading Greek financial institutions losing the maximum 30% permitted in a single day’s trading.Related: Greece debt crisis: Athens stock market ends 16% lower as manufacturing plunges - as it happened Continue reading...

Your editorial’s argument about a causal link between slowing population growth and increased economic growth (Fewer people means more carbon: the population paradox, 3 August) is dangerously out of date.In its 2014 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change showed how the reduction through efficiency of CO emissions from fossil fuels was wiped out by population increase, the real paradox being why it then offered pages of energy policy advice, but not a word on population. Could it be that the IPCC – and you – are blinded by the logic that regards economic growth as more important than carbon emissions and misery for lots of women and children? Continue reading...

The financial crisis showed how important Libor had become in globalised markets – the rigging scandal showed how much it had been abusedLibor first shot to prominence during the financial crisis when it emerged as a signal that banks were panicking. This is because Libor – shorthand for the London interbank offered rate – is the price at which banks estimate their rivals will want to lend to them. During the crisis, those banks that admitted they expected to be charged the highest interest rates by their peers were perceived to be the riskier ones.The £290m fine for rigging the rate imposed on Barclays in 2012 showed Libor in an entirely different light. The penalty and subsequent ones imposed on other banks and brokers showed that the rates themselves were being manipulated. It also meant they may not have been a true reflection of wider borrowing costs paid by companies and households worldwide.Related: Former City trader Tom Hayes convicted of Libor rigging Continue reading...

It’s also a moral imperative for those who truly wish to help the world’s poor, which the presidential candidate claims to supportBernie Sanders has come out against open borders, claiming they are a “right-wing proposal” that “would make everyone in America poorer.” He argues that, while we have a “moral responsibility” to “work with the rest of the industrialized world to address the problems of international poverty... you don’t do that by making people in this country even poorer.”Related: Bernie Sanders: structural racism needs to end for economic justice to succeed | Sabrina Hersi IssaMassimino is a campus coordinator for Students For Liberty, which receives funding from the Koch Brothers. He was not compensated for writing this piece. Continue reading...

CIPS/Markit’s monthly economic health check shows stagnant manufacturing sector is dependent on UK consumer and could hold back economic growthThe strength of the pound is holding back UK exports and keeping factory output barely above recession levels despite a rise in activity in the eurozone.The monthly health check from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply/Markit found that buoyant consumer spending helped British industry edge up from a 26-month low in June.Related: Greece debt crisis: Athens stock market falls 23% as manufacturing plunges - live Continue reading...

Exchange in Athens falls 23% in value in early trading with banks and financial shares hurt by up to 30% after enforced closureGreece’s stock market plunged nearly 23% on Monday when it reopened after a five-week shutdown brought on by fears that the country was about to be dumped from the eurozone.The main Athens stock index fell to in worst ever one-day performance after only a few minutes of trading.Related: Greece debt crisis: Athens stock market falls 23% after reopening - liveRelated: Greek shares set to fall sharply as Athens stock market reopensRelated: Who’d be young and Greek? Searching for a future after the debt crisis Continue reading...

After a five-week shutdown designed to save the country’s banks from collapse, traders predict heavy selling amid more falls in Asian marketsGreek investors expect a tumultuous day’s trading when Athens’ stock market reopens on Monday after a five-week shutdown.The resumption of trading in Greek stocks will be the latest step back towards economic normality, after the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, struck a deal with the country’s creditors to open talks on an €86bn (£61bn) third bailout.Related: Now a deal has been done, what lies ahead for the Greek economy?Related: Chinese shares are falling, but the real fear is that the economy itself is slowing Continue reading...

Bank of England to reveal key interest rate decision, discussions behind it and quarterly economic forecasts on same day for first timeBritain’s mortgage borrowers will be warned this week to brace themselves for higher interest rates on what City of London traders have dubbed “Super Thursday”. At least two, perhaps three, of the nine members of the Bank of England’s interest rate-setting committee are expected to cast their votes for a rate rise.Confirmed hawks Martin Weale and Ian McCafferty, who voted for rate rises throughout the second half of 2014 before changing their minds as inflation plunged to zero earlier this year, have signalled they could soon be ready to see borrowing costs rise.Related: Why Mark Carney shouldn’t rush to play the rate-rise card Continue reading...

To gauge how high interest rates will go, and how fast, we need to understand how fiscal and monetary policy interact, writes Gavin KellyWith prominent members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) – not least the governor – lining up in recent weeks to talk up the prospect of rate rises at some point in the coming months, this week’s meeting has already sparked another burst of speculation about when the first hike in eight years will happen.Whatever your take on the exact timings of monetary lift-off – whether you’d opt for August or April – the far more important issue is the medium-term path of increases that follow. Continue reading...

More profits need to be redirected away from shareholders and reinvested in plant, process and people if technology is not to exacerbate inequalityLook around and it seems pretty obvious that technology has made daily life easier.We can watch almost any film or listen to any song at the press of a button. People pay their bills on their mobile phones. Stressed parents get to dodge trolley tantrums by swapping the supermarket run for online shopping. And let’s not mention all that free online news. Continue reading...

Some on the monetary policy committee at the Bank of England are likely to press for increases, but the recovery remains weakGeorge Osborne has repeatedly promised to fix the roof while the sun is shining, and after official figures last week showed GDP growth picking up sharply in the second quarter, it seemed that the clouds have finally lifted.With the Bank of England’s policymakers due to meet on Thursday, the news that the slowdown in the first quarter was just a blip sent traders scrambling to price in an interest rate rise in the coming months. Continue reading...

The chancellor seems increasingly willing to resort to ‘fiddling the figures’ – something for which he castigated Gordon BrownWhen thousands of poor American families saw the homes they had loved and saved for seized by the banks in the depths of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, it was scant comfort that they had only been able to afford to clamber on to the property ladder in the first place because of reckless lenders, toothless regulators and short-sighted politicians. Losing your home is losing your home.Yet when George Osborne contemplates the cuts many households will face as a result of his planned reductions in tax credits – three million will lose £1,000 a year, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies – he wants to kid us, and maybe himself, that it doesn’t matter because the state could ill afford such generosity to the needy in the first place. Continue reading...

The agriculture minister has not given up on Australia signing the TPP and says the trade minister, Andrew Robb, is still ‘at the table’The agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, has not given up on Australia signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, potentially the world’s biggest regional trade agreement.Week-long negotiations over the TPP ended in Hawaii on Saturday without an agreement. Sticking points for Australia are sugar and dairy, but Joyce says the process is ongoing.Related: Australia walks away from Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal talks Continue reading...

Disastrous losses on the Shanghai exchange are leading to concern that the era of runaway Chinese growth is faltering at a critical time in the world economyRecent events in Shanghai’s stock markets have been all too reminiscent of the tales that have entered American folk memory from the days of the Wall Street crash in 1929: of stock-tipping shoeshine boys, exhausted traders, and ticker-tape machines spooling late into the night.In China, the Shanghai Composite Index lost more than 8% of its value last Monday, and shares have suffered their worst month for six years, falling by 29% since they peaked in June. Continue reading...

Alexis Tsipras defends Yanis Varoufakis in the Greek parliament on Friday despite the former finance minister's poor taste in shirts. Tsipras says there are many things that Varoufakis can be blamed for, including his sense of style, but says the former finance minister cannot be accused of being a crook or having a covert plan to bring Greece to the precipice Continue reading...

The three ex-employees are the first bankers to be imprisoned for actions that helped turn the Celtic Tiger boom to bustThree officials from the bank that almost bankrupted Ireland have become the first bankers to be jailed for offences related to the Republic’s financial crash.The failure of Anglo Irish Bank, which became synonymous with the casino-style lending practices that drove Ireland’s “Celtic Tiger” boom and subsequent bust, cost the state €30bn (£21bn), part of what forced the government to seek a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Continue reading...

July ends on another low note as stocks record biggest monthly loss in almost six years, despite concerted efforts by Beijing to prop up the exchangesChinese share prices suffered a dismal end to a dire month as promises of more emergency measures from officials in Beijing failed to stem a stock market slide that is now reverberating around the global economy.Despite policymakers’ pledges to underpin the flagging Chinese economy and a further crackdown by the markets watchdog, stocks fell further on Friday and posted their biggest monthly loss in almost six years.Related: China's leaders hamstring its investors as the speculative frenzy continues Continue reading...

PM objects to mounting criticism of controversial ex-finance minister as Greece meets quartet of creditors for bailout talksAlexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, has launched a staunch defence of his former right-hand man Yanis Varoufakis following revelations that the ex-finance minister drew up secret plans to ditch the euro if bailout talks failed.Varoufakis, who was a controversial figure during his tenure in Athens, courting publicity and provoking his eurozone counterparts, has admitted he formulated a scheme for leaving the euro, which involved hacking into the Greek tax system.Related: Greece crisis: Yanis Varoufakis admits 'contingency plan' for euro exitRelated: In defence of Yanis Varoufakis Continue reading...

Gertjan Vlieghe announces he will be bought out of Brevan Howard and maintains there was no conflict of interest despite others’ concernsA hedge fund manager appointed to the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) has succumbed to pressure about potential conflicts of interest by severing financial links with his former employer.The appointment of Gertjan Vlieghe, a former partner and senior economist at hedge fund Brevan Howard, to the rate-setting committee was announced on Tuesday but prompted concern about his remaining ties to the investment firm. He was to have retained a financial interest in Brevan Howard, which is a partnership. This would have allowed him to receive long-term incentive payments based on the hedge fund’s size, according to a report by Reuters. Continue reading...

Fund official confirms it will not sign up to any formal support programme unless eurozone creditors reach ‘explicit and concrete’ agreementThe International Monetary Fund will refuse to participate in a new bailout for Greece until there is an “explicit and concrete agreement” on debt relief from the country’s eurozone creditors, an IMF official has confirmed.Without the IMF’s involvement, Greece’s eurozone partners will have to find more funds to meet Athens’ short-term financing needs, raising questions about whether the outline €86bn (£60bn) bailout thrashed out earlier this month will prove workable.Related: IMF negotiator prepares to join Greek talks as deadline looms Continue reading...

Select committee will ask Gertjan Vlieghe to prove independence from the Brevan Howard hedge fund, where is he is a partnerThe Treasury select committee is preparing to challenge newly appointed member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, Gertjan Vlieghe, to prove his independence from the hedge fund Brevan Howard, where he is a partner.Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the cross-party committee of MPs, said: “It is essential that the MPC is – and is seen to be – independent. The Treasury committee will be seeking reassurance that Mr Vlieghe’s business interests do not pose a conflict with his membership of the MPC when he comes for an appointment hearing in the autumn.”Related: Bank of England: Gertjan Vlieghe named as new MPC member Continue reading...

Ireland roars ahead of other eurozone members as country returns to pre-crisis ‘Celtic Tiger’ levels Continue reading...

Freight Trade Association’s estimate of cost of disruption at French port does not stack upIs the Calais crisis really costing the UK £250m a day in lost trade?It seems vastly improbable. The figure was issued by the Freight Transport Association (FTA), derived, using a crude calculation, from a 2014 study on the value of trade passing through the port of Dover. Continue reading...

The Fed described the economy as expanding ‘moderately’ while upgrading its view of the labor market, pointing the way to an interest rate hikeThe US economy accelerated in the second quarter, further raising the prospect that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates – which have been held near zero since the financial crisis – as early as September.

Country saw 1.4% quarter-on-quarter growth in first three months of 2015, pushing it to top of eurozone league table for second year runningIreland’s economy grew by 1.4% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year, in a recovery that is forecast to make it the fastest-growing economy in Europe for the second consecutive year.Ireland’s economy expanded by 5.2% last year, revised up on Thursday from 4.8% previously, its best performance since 2007 before a property crash plunged it into recession and triggered a fiscal and banking crisis. Continue reading...

Ireland and Spain, both of which exited bailout programmes 18 months ago, have successfully shrugged of the legacies of the crashIreland’s economy has surpassed the size it reached at the peak of the “Celtic Tiger” boom, official figures have revealed, in the latest evidence that the country is shrugging off the legacy of the crash.Annual output reached €189bn (£132bn) in 2014, which statisticians said was larger, in real terms, than its pre-crisis level. Economic growth for last year was revised up, to 5.2%.Related: As Greece stares into the abyss, has Spain escaped from crisis? Continue reading...

Calling economy’s job gains ‘solid’, latest statement leads many to believe Fed chair Janet Yellen is targeting 16-17 September policy meeting for rate hikeThe Federal Reserve on Wednesday continued to pave the way for an increase in interest rates as early as September.The US central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at near zero – where it has been since the 2008 financial crisis – but once again signalled that rates will rise later this year.Related: Will a rise in US interest rates cause investments to tumble? Continue reading...

Delia Velculescu’s imminent arrival coincides with fears that Greece will be unable to wrap up discussions by 20 August, when €3.4bn payment is dueDiscussions between Greece and its creditors are set to step up a gear when the International Monetary Fund’s lead representative arrives in Athens for talks.However, the arrival of the Romanian-born Delia Velculescu on Thursday coincides with growing speculation that it will be impossible to wrap up negotiations for a third bailout by the 20 August deadline. This date is when the €3.4bn (£2.4bn) payment is due from the Greek government to the European Central Bank. Instead, officials and local politicians in Greece believe that eurozone creditors will ensure the country receives a bridging loan to prevent a default.Related: 'Iron lady' set to play central role in next act of Greek bailout dramaRelated: Yanis Varoufakis may face criminal charges over Greek currency plan Continue reading...

The board ousted Antony Jenkins despite one of the best half-year results in a while. And it’s not clear what will change. So why did the share price leap?It remains a mystery why Antony Jenkins received a “unanimous” vote of no confidence from Barclays’ non-executive directors. There were no nasties lurking in Wednesday’s interim figures beyond the usual parade of provisions, including another £600m for mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI). This was Barclays’ best half-year for a while. Targets for capital and leverage ratios in 2016 have been reached already. The former chief executive will collect a payoff of at least £2.5m to ease the bruising to his ego but, by the standard of these things, he’s entitled to feel miffed.A need for greater dynamism was the semi-official explanation for his exit. But, if that’s the path Barclays wants to tread, John McFarlane, newly installed as executive chairman, needs to improve his own game. Continue reading...

Stock markets breathe a sigh of relief but analysts warn of long-term consequences of government interventionChinese share prices have bounced back after the latest emergency measures by policymakers to underpin the country’s fragile stock markets appeared to have increased confidence.Investors in China’s markets have endured a white knuckle ride in recent weeks, with prices on the Shanghai Composite index plunging by 8.5% on Monday alone – the sharpest sell-off in eight years – as trading in many stocks was suspended. But following a second day of declines the index closed up 3.5% on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Romanian economist Delia Velculescu, who forged a steely reputation as lead IMF negotiator in Cyprus deal, heads for Athens to engineer new agreementDelia Velculescu, the Romanian economist chosen to lead the International Monetary Fund’s negotiating team in Greece, was dubbed the “iron lady” during the fraught talks over Cyprus’s bailout. Given the poor relationship between Athens and its creditors, her toughness will be tested anew in the coming days.Velculescu arrives in Athens on Thursday amid uncertainty over the IMF’s willingness to throw its weight behind a third bailout for the stricken eurozone state. Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, hopes to negotiate a deal before 20 August, but the IMF will subject any agreement to rigorous examination.Related: Yanis Varoufakis may face criminal charges over Greek currency plan Continue reading...

Greece is going through difficult times. But proven economic reforms can create a Europe strong enough to meet challenges from Ukraine to Islamic StateJudging by the flood of comments that followed the recent European summit on Greece, a modern Greek drama is unfolding in which a small but proud nation, the motherland of democracy, is being subjected to senseless austerity by cold-hearted bureaucrats and penny-pinching foreign politicians. These comments have rather puzzled me.A few days ago, the German parliament gave its approval to negotiations on a new financial assistance package for Greece worth up to €86bn (£60bn). Germany’s share will be a bit more than a quarter, or the equivalent of roughly €500 per household. That is big money and it’s on top of the €215bn that Greece has already had under the first and second assistance packages in 2010 and 2012. Greece has received assistance equivalent to more than its entire annual GDP – which dwarfs, for example, the Marshall plan. All eurozone countries will contribute, despite some of them having per-capita incomes significantly below Greece’s. This is a broad act of European solidarity.What matters is to put Greece back on its feet and to restore trust Continue reading...

Allegations of covert scheme described as ‘simply not true’ by European commission as Alexis Tsipras looks to conclude third bailout deal with creditorsThe European commission has denounced as “false and unfounded” claims by Greece’s former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis that international creditors had exclusive control over the country’s tax system.Brussels slammed the suggestion that external supervision of the Greek tax revenue agency forced Varoufakis to consider hacking the ministry’s computers as part of a secret plan to devise a parallel payment system for the nation.Related: Greece crisis: Yanis Varoufakis admits 'contingency plan' for euro exitRelated: Greek debt crisis demonstrates perils of lending to your euro friends Continue reading...

Larry Elliott, in his recommendation to merge income tax and national insurance contributions (Analysis, 27 July), makes only a brief reference to any potential impact on the structure of the social security system. But this could be significant.A merger on the paying-in side may seem technically tidier. But to remove any connection between contributions and benefits runs counter to the new single-tier pension, which deliberately kept such a link. Continue reading...