Faisal Islam on Economics

Faisal Islam guides you through the world of finance and money in language which makes sense.

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May 22, 2013 4 Comments

IMF tells chancellor to boost growth

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has backed away from its ringing endorsement of UK economic policy.

In the past two years, the end of its annual Article IV consultation with Britain has been brandished by George Osborne as vindication of his deficit reduction plan, despite disappointing growth.

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May 20, 2013 17 Comments

Hundreds of new homes from Help to Buy: at what cost?

It’s the centrepiece of the government’s plans to get the economy going after three years of meagre growth.

April 25, 2013 3 Comments

No triple dip – not that it really ever mattered

Today’s GDP figures will have prompted relief at the Treasury that there is no new recession. But longer term, the picture for the UK economy is unchanged.

April 24, 2013 6 Comments

Is souped-up scheme a shot in the arm for lending?

Nick Clegg says the government’s Funding for Lending has been put on steroids. But, if it leads to a house price bubble, is it really an economic policy on smack?

April 5, 2013 11 Comments

Was HBOS the worst bank in the world? You vote

The banking commission has savaged the way HBOS was run, but it is not the only bank that has struck terror into people’s hearts. Are these are the worst offenders? You decide.

March 28, 2013 17 Comments

How Greece exported a bank default to Cyprus

Cyprus bailout: the inside story of a president “humiliated” by EU bureaucrats half his age, and of a country pushed over the edge in order to protect Greece.

March 27, 2013 32 Comments

The anguish of Cyprus in the words of its people

Economics Editor Faisal Islam hears from ordinary Cypriots as they struggle to come to terms with the financial catastrophe that has overtaken their lives and their country.

Nicosia’s corralito: the kids leading Cyprus’s controlled anger

Chanting “Troika go home” to the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army, Economics Editor Faisal Islam meets the kids leading the controlled anger in Cyprus at its bailout terms.

March 25, 2013 19 Comments

Pipelines, and deposit lines: a view from north Cyprus

In Turkish controlled northern Cyprus there is a sense of schadenfreude over the financial woes of its southern neighbour, but also that unifying the island is “back on the agenda”.

March 22, 2013 22 Comments

Of zombie budgets and mortgage subsidies

The chancellor’s plans to boost the housing market are “well down the list of Britain’s economic to-do list, and arguably well up the not-to-do list”.