Economics | The Guardian

The US Federal Reserve has resisted raising interest rates until it sees more signs of labor market improvement

Though demanding transparency is a step in the right direction, the UK will still be the global capital of light-touch regulationTwo and a half years ago, this newspaper published a series of special investigations into who was feeding London’s property bubble – and how they did it. The results were rather at odds with the usual property porn. Sure, there were stories on luxury flats in Mayfair. But the real star of the show was one office block in the British Virgin Islands, housing hundreds of sham companies with sham directors. Or perhaps it was the Land Registry and Companies House, with their records full of fake names and phoney directors. Then again, there were all those stories of Russian billionaires, some on the run from the law, all piling into property in London and the south-east. More than just good anecdotes, these were big money and massive tax dodges. In 2011 alone, more than £7bn of offshore money was poured into Britain’s flats, houses and office blocks. Of that, more than half – £3.8bn – of the transactions used entities registered in the British Virgin Islands. Needless to say, most of the money landed up in just a few square miles in the centre of the capital. Combing through Land Registry records, estate agents Knight Frank calculated that in the year to June 2013 overseas residents bought 49% of all newly built property in the plushest parts of central London.This dirty money-go-round is what David Cameron promised to stop today – and for that he deserves a big round of applause. So too does his pledge of a truthful property register – in which the owners of Britain’s land and homes are actually named. It should also be recognised that the Conservative government has gone further on this issue than Tony Blair or Gordon Brown managed in their 13 years in power, and post-9/11 attempts at cracking down on money-laundering. Labour had plenty of opportunity to take this step. In 2001, a Treasury official named Andrew Edwards warned that the Land Registry was open to criminal abuse. “If public policy emphasises privacy above transparency, the greatest beneficiaries are likely to be criminals,” the Edwards report said. It might be pointed out too that the last prime minister who refused to do something about this abuse was one David Cameron, whose government reacted to the Guardian’s 2012 expose and that year’s G8 tax, trade and transparency summit with this statement: “The UK encourages foreign investment and has no plans to stop overseas companies from registering as owners of property with the Land Registry.” Continue reading...

Resolution Foundation claims drop in people moving between jobs reduces prospects of pay rises and creates ‘promotion blockage’ for young UK workersIf every cloud has a silver lining, then in the case of the UK labour market it appears that every bright spot has a shadow. That’s the suggestion in new research from the Resolution Foundation into how a rise in job stability over the last two decades has stymied the careers of young people.Rather than being merely cause for celebration, the drop in the rate at which people move between jobs since the financial crisis in 2008 is likely to reduce the prospects for promotion, pay rises and productivity gains, the thinktank says. It warns of a “promotion blockage that risks permanently scarring the earnings of a generation of young workers”.Related: We millennials lack a roadmap to adulthood | Zach Stafford“Job security is crucial to the pursuit of full employment as it will make work more attractive to those facing the biggest barriers to work. But we should also be mindful about the falling rate of job moves, which are a vital way for young workers to build their careers.” Continue reading...

Federation of Master Builders says its poll of small and medium-sized firms reveals struggle to hire bricklayers, carpenters and joiners

Children’s hospital among affected projects after spending programme part-funded by private sector runs foul of new EU rules on measuring state spendingThe Scottish government is turning to increased private-sector funding to pay for a multibillion pound spending programme after a Brussels ruling that has delayed major public projects in Scotland.Those affected include a bypass around Aberdeen, a children’s hospital in Edinburgh and more than a dozen secondary schools. They are being reorganised to increase private sector control and private funding, in order to prevent a curb on Scottish government borrowing and keep the projects off Holyrood’s balance sheet.

The slip-up was caused by ‘procedural errors at a staff level’ the Fed says, in the latest blow to its ability to maintain secrecy over its policy deliberationsStaff economists at the Federal Reserve expect a quarter-point US interest rate increase this year, according to forecasts the Fed mistakenly published on its website in a gaffe that drew criticism of its ability to keep secrets.

All the latest financial news, as Athens prepares to welcome the Troika back and mining giants cut thousands of jobs as prices slide again

June quarter inflation offers little to guide the RBA, but they do mark the last time Joe Hockey can claim the carbon tax abolition is keeping inflation downThe June quarter inflation figures are always looked at with interest to see how they will affect chances of an interest rate cut at the coming RBA meeting. The latest figures will do little to nudge the RBA one way or the other but they reveal a large difference in price rises across the nation and also the final impact of the end of the carbon price on electricity.The figures came in pretty much on expectations. The consumer price index grew 0.7% in the quarter, and the RBA’s “core inflation” figures of the trimmed mean and weighted median grew 0.6% and 0.5% respectively. Continue reading...