On my own monetary matters, nuttiness kicks in
Last week’s big news at my office was that the tills in the canteen were on the blink, and could no longer swipe our vending cards. So in order to buy, say, a large latte and a lemon muffin, we had to open our purses and find L1.80 in coins instead.
The Fed is blameless on the property bubble
I am puzzled why the remarkably similar housing bubbles that emerged in more than two dozen countries between 2001 and 2006 are not seen to have a common cause.
Why Clinton should battle on
As the contest for the US Democratic nomination has dragged on, supporters of Barack Obama have called on Hillary Clinton to drop out.
Putin still against US-run missile shield
The US and Russia said on Sunday they were interested in creating a joint defence system with Europe against missile threats - though Russia warned it still opposed plans for a US-run missile shield in central Europe.
IMF head calls for global action on turmoil
Government intervention at a global level is required to tackle the credit crisis, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund, who has warned that market turmoil will take a serious toll on world growth.
Stop this foolish overreaction to climate change
Over the past five years I have become increasingly concerned at the scaremongering of the climate alarmists, which has led the governments of Europe to commit themselves to a drastic reduction in carbon emissions, regardless of the economic cost of doing so.
Central banks must care about house prices
The International Monetary Fund last week gave central banks some wicked advice*. They should no longer ignore residential property prices when setting interest rates. At the same time, the IMF recommends central banks should retain their inflation-targeting frameworks. It all sounds very plausible. Unfortunately the two goals are inconsistent.
Battle for London
The contest to become mayor of London is setting the Thames on fire. After eight years in charge without a serious challenge, Ken Livingstone now has a fight on his hands. It shows how far Mr Livingstone has lost support that, with little more than celebrity and a cheerfully shambolic manner, Boris Johnson, his Conservative party challenger, has turned what looked like a shoo-in into a two-horse race.
Microsoft steps up pressure on Yahoo
Microsoft has turned up the heat in its efforts to acquire Yahoo, promising an all-out hostile takeover battle before the end of the month and hinting that it would cut the value of its offer if negotiations do not start soon.
Regulation needs more than tuning
When the crisis in US and global financial markets started to unfold, so began the incantation of two default opinions. One: regulation is the answer and we must have more. Two: regulation is the problem and more would be worse.
Lunch with the FT: Isabel Allende
A former brothel on an eerily still backstreet of Sausalito seems an appropriate place to meet one of Latin America’s foremost magical realists. Outside, the azaleas and camellias are starting to flower, and the absolute clarity of the northern Californian light gives an extra sharpness to the building’s renovated cedar shingles. It feels like you’ve stepped into an Edward Hopper painting.
Bernanke hopes for hopefulness
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, admitted this week that the US may already be in a recession. According to the University of Michigan’s monthly survey, 86 per cent of Americans had reached the same conclusion. Yet his gloomy near-term prognosis was brightened by more optimistic forecasts for the real economy later this year and next.
Tesco's trolley may have started to wobble
Tesco picked up another couple of gongs last month at the Retail Week "industry oscars" - "leader of the year" for chief executive Sir Terry Leahy and "consumers' favourite retailer". But on the walk to the stage, executives were booed by their peers, not cheered.
Nato closes ranks
President George W. Bush did not get everything he wanted from Nato's summit that ended yesterday in Bucharest, but he got quite a bit.
Money can buy you happiness, say researchers
Money might not buy you love, but it now seems that it might be able to buy you happiness.
Third of UK housing deals fall through
As many as one in three housing deals are falling through because buyers cannot get the mortgage they need as more lenders retreat from the market.
The perils of shaping choice
This week’s New York Times/CBS poll, which showed Americans more pessimistic about their country’s prospects than they have been in decades, yielded a puzzling figure.
US loses jobs at fastest rate in 5 years
US employers cut more jobs in March than at other time in the past five years, reinforcing the view that the US is in recession and raising fears about consumer spending.
Putin criticises Russia’s "demonisation"
President Vladimir Putin on Friday delivered a carefully calibrated criticism of western policy towards Russia, berating the 26-member Nato alliance for what he called the "total demonisation" of his country.
Russia and Europe must work to clear the air
These are the best of times; these are the worst of times. Charles Dickens’ famous words describe the present state of European Union-Russia relations perfectly. There has never been as much trade and business between Europe and Russia. Yet political tension has not been this intense since the days of the Soviet Union.
China-US energy efforts would be win-win
China and the US are two of the largest energy producers and consumers in the world, so it is highly significant that the fourth China-US Economic Dialogue, which will be held in the US this week, will promote long-term co-operation in energy, the environment and other related areas.
The Bank needs a stronger role in the City
The frequent explanation given for the fiasco of Northern Rock was confusion over the roles of the Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority in managing the banking system.
A bouquet of office barbs
Last week Sir Alan Sugar said “you’re fired” to three of the last four candidates in The Apprentice and 8.9m people sat on sofas all over Britain gawping at the expressions of bitter disappointment, shock and anger that these two words inspired.
Europe’s hardball plan B for the Lisbon treaty
What is going to happen now after the Irish No vote? I would expect the European Union to find a way to implement the Lisbon treaty, leaving Ireland potentially isolated within the EU. I would also expect another Irish referendum at some point, probably in the first half of next year.
Orthodox responses to taxing issues
Barack Obama and John McCain both expect the ailing US economy to work to their advantage in November. Mr Obama promises to make things better. Mr McCain says they will get better by themselves and he will not make them worse in the meantime. These are the customary postures of the two parties. For a fight between an insurgent Democrat and a maverick Republican, the economics in this election is sadly orthodox.
G8 warns on rising inflation threat
Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, talked up the dollar in Osaka at the weekend as the Group of Eight finance ministers warned of the increasing threat inflation posed to their economies.
The Fed, the dollar and wider price concerns
Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, produced a brief dollar rally by expressing concern that a falling exchange rate could bolster inflation. Mr Bernanke is correct to be concerned about a weak dollar because it is part of a larger pattern of price developments that may also define his role in US monetary history. He appears likely to be remembered as the first Fed chairman to preside over a recession without any coincident decline in commodity prices. Instead, prices have risen to record levels since the US economy began to slow sharply last year.
A league table of liveable cities
This might look like a rather straightforward column published by a powerful global media group, but it’s far more than that. Behind this matte salmon paper and the e-mail address below there’s an elaborate research-cum-call centre that dispenses all kinds of advice on issues ranging from travel itineraries to tailoring services in Tokyo to café tips in emerging neighbourhoods around the world.
Irish ‘No’ leads to yet another European psychodrama
“The people have spoken, the bastards.” So said one Californian candidate when voters did not respond to his electoral charms in the way he desired.
Ukraine rifles its history for heroes
When Mark Thompson, the BBC’s director-general, learnt that 77 Ukrainian MPs had written to him to complain about vote-rigging in a BBC-inspired contest to name the greatest Ukrainian of all time, I suspect he struggled to contain the mirth that made us laugh at the olde-country scenes in Borat. Like the quip that academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so low, it is hard not to be entertained by a battle over “historical” figures that few non-Ukrainians have ever heard of.
EU probes US tax breaks for biofuels
Subsidies for biofuels faced fresh controversy on Friday when the European Union opened an investigation into whether US tax breaks were damaging its industry.
Veteran of pitch battles
Even some of the most successful professionals in football soccer find it hard to stay in the public eye after they retire. But two years after Pierluigi Collina quit the game he continues to turn heads and dispense his wisdom to groups of avid listeners.
Irish voters reject EU treaty
José Manuel Barosso, European Commission president, called on EU member states to continue ratifying the Lisbon treaty after more than half of Ireland’s 43 constituencies rejected the European Union’s new reform treaty.
S&P discloses errors in rating models
Standard & Poor’s, the credit rating agency, has told regulators it found an error in the computer models underpinning the credit ratings of complex debt products but that the glitch did not affect the ratings of the debt.
Man in the News: Dick Fuld
In an interview last summer, Dick Fuld was asked whether the credit crunch would take a significant bite out of Lehman Brothers, which to that point had avoided the worst fallout from a crisis that had hit other Wall Street banks.
China fund shuns guns and gambling
China’s $200bn sovereign wealth fund intends to be a socially responsible global investor by shunning industries such as gambling, tobacco and arms manufacturing, the fund’s president said on Friday.
Borrowers told to fix rates ahead of further rises
Borrowers coming to the end of a short-term mortgage deal any time this year should secure a new offer now, according to brokers, as rates may not yet have peaked.
Strong showing for No camp in Irish EU vote
Early tallies in Ireland’s referendum on the European Union’s Lisbon treaty pointed to a modest turn-out and a strong showing by the No camp, the Irish state broadcaster RTE reported on Friday.
Europe should not resist free trade in healthcare
Global trade and investment has surged in the past 50 years. Almost all countries and all sectors today participate in a global division of labour. Yet one sector remains conspicuously unglobalised: healthcare.
Online Obama fights web smears
If there were a gold medal for political use of new technology, almost every web aficionado would award it to Barack Obama. But on Thursday Mr Obama provided a reminder that what has already been dubbed the “YouTube election” can also be a double-edged sword.
Irak: Uroczystości przekazania ostatniej prowincji nie będzie
- Nie odbędzie się uroczystość przekazania przez ministra obrony Bogdana Klicha ostatniej prowincji Irakijczykom - pisze nasz wysłannik z Bagdadu.
Akt II: raz na wozie, raz pod wozem
Edward koronował się na króla 28 czerwca 1461 roku i kontynuował rozprawę z opozycją. W efekcie wygranych bitew i udanych oblężeń padały kolejne twierdze Lancasterów. Wkrótce doszło jednak do konfliktu dwóch silnych osobowości ? monarchy i Warwicka.
Podpisz petycję przeciw prawu karania osób korzystających z sieci P2P
Zarząd Internet Society Poland zajął ostre, krytyczne stanowisko przeciw próbie uchwalenia we Francji, a w konsekwencji być może w całej Unii Europejskiej, prawa zezwalającego na karanie w trybie administracyjnym osób korzystających z sieci P2P.
W skrócie
Kibice Lewskiego Sofia starli się z policją
Do starć kibiców Lewskiego z policją doszło w czwartek w nocy w Sofii po meczu pierwszej rundy piłkarskiego Pucharu UEFA. Gospodarze przegrali ze słowackim zespołem MSK Żylina 0:1 i odpadli z rozgrywek.
Porozumienie w sprawie finansowania wojen
Przywódcy Demokratów i Republikanów w Izbie Reprezentantów Kongresu USA uzgodnili projekt ustawy o przeznaczeniu 162 mld dolarów na operacje wojskowe w Iraku i Afganistanie.
Samolot USA zbombardował rejon Płn. Waziristanu
Co najmniej cztery osoby poniosły śmierć na miejscu a pięć zostało poważnie rannych w wyniku ataku, przeprowadzonego z amerykańskiego samolotu bezzałogowego w Północnym Waziristanie, na plemiennych terenach pogranicza Pakistanu z Afganistanem.
Palin gotowa zastąpić McCaina
Republikańska kandydatka na wiceprezydenta USA Sarah Palin, obecna gubernator Alaski, dała do zrozumienia, że gdyby zaszłaby taka potrzeba gotowa byłaby zastąpić Johna McCaina na stanowisku prezydenta.
Propagował aborcję, dostał order
Kardynał Jean-Claude Turcotte zwrócił najwyższe odznaczenie kanadyjskie w proteście przeciwko uhonorowaniu nim zwolennika aborcji
Puchar wraca do Sopotu
Prokom Trefl znów mocny. Mistrzowie Polski odzyskali trofeum utracone przed rokiem, wygrywając w finale z ASCO Śląskiem 81:69
Szajna był ojcem Teatru Studio
7 czerwca o godzinie 19.00 na Dużej Scenie Teatru Studio odbędzie się wieczór poświęcony Józefowi Szajnie
Schulz i Verheugen o możliwości wykluczenia Irlandii z UE
Niemiecki szef frakcji socjalistycznej w Parlamencie Europejskim Martin Schulz dopuścił możliwość wykluczenia Irlandii z Unii Europejskiej, gdyby ostatecznie odrzuciła ona Traktat Lizboński. Przed izolowaniem Irlandii przestrzega premier Luksemburga Jean-Claude Juncker.
Polacy korzystają z programu repatriacji
Wśród 511 obywateli nowych państw UE, którzy przy finansowym wsparciu irlandzkiego rządu zgodzili się w tym roku dobrowolnie wrócić do kraju, 118 to Polacy - podał poniedziałkowy "The Irish Times".
Rebelianci zaatakowali ropociąg koncernu Chevron
Uzbrojeni napastnicy w Nigerii zaatakowali ważny ropociąg zarządzany przez amerykański koncern Chevron, powodując wstrzymanie 120 tys. baryłek dziennej produkcji - podały nigeryjskie władze.
Karnowski: Wracam do pracy
Awantura na sesji Rady Miasta. Poseł PiS Jacek Kurski oskarżył sopocką Platformę Obywatelską o wspieranie korupcji. Jacek Karnowski nie zamierza podawać się do dymisji, po tym jak ?Rz? ujawniła nagranie sopockiego biznesmena Sławomira Julkego
Czeczenia oskarża Rosję
Grozny żąda ukarania winnych masowych mordów na cywilach. A odpowiedzialność za drugą wojnę czeczeńską ponosi Władimir Putin
Propozycja Czytelnika - Czesław Niemen
Zimbabwe: Lider opozycji opuścił ambasadę Holandii
Lider zimbabweńskiej opozycji Morgan Tsvangirai opuścił ambasadę Holandii w Harare, gdzie schronił się przed czterema dniami
Georgia conflict forces Nato rethink
Nato defence ministers will on Thursday hold their first in-depth discussion on how the 26-member alliance should respond militarily to Russia’s new challenge to the west following its recent conflict with Georgia.
Wirtualny "mózg" dla zapominalskich
muu.sk (czyt. mózg) to serwis internetowy mający za zadanie przypominać o konieczności zwrotu pożyczonych rzeczy.