Author: |Posted: 5:52 pm on 05/11/09
Category: Faisal Islam on Economics
It’s a cosmic game of pin the tail on the donkey. The tail is the amount of money creation that the Bank of England deliberates over. The donkey is the British economy.
The Bank has just voted to increase its money creation exercise to £200 billion. A £25 billion increase is a little less than had been expected.
The Monetary Policy Committee is marginally less worried than thought about last month’s shock news that the economy is still in recession. It may be marginally more worried about the prospective inflationary consequences of its epic money creation scheme than the City believed. read more
Author: |Posted: 1:14 pm on 03/11/09
Category: Faisal Islam on Economics
Just over a year ago we thought that the £37bn injection of equity by the government into Lloyds and RBS was the landmark, never-to-be-repeated event. Bailout 1.0 literally saved the banking system from collapse, and was copied around the world.
Then, in January, came Bailout 2.0, which we were told would be a bailout not of the banks, but of the economy. That bailout was to enable the banks to continue lending to prospective homeowners and to businesses.
Author: |Posted: 2:35 pm on 22/10/09
Category: Snowblog
Author: |Posted: 12:22 pm on 19/08/09
Category: Faisal Islam on Economics
Forget the voices suggesting interest rates might creep up in the near future.
This morning revealed the reality that the Bank of England nearly voted for even more creation of its funny money.
Author: |Posted: 4:48 pm on 12/08/09
Category: Faisal Islam on Economics
Like a Greek Oracle, Mervyn King has divined some encouraging signs at the quarterly Bank of England assessment of the UK economy. But the bulk of the statistical soothsaying was pretty bleak.
The banking system is still in a bad way and it may take some years for it to be “weaned off very large public support”. The recovery is likely to be sluggish and protracted. And they could not tell when unemployment would stop rising.
Amid the entrails of uncertainty, however, was a perceptive piece of statistical analysis and a gleaming ray of light on those jobs numbers. read more
Author: |Posted: 11:41 am on 08/07/09
Category: Faisal Islam on Economics
‘Hockney-esque’ is how the City minister, Lord Myners last week described today’s government effort to reboot Britain’s banking system.
It’s a high-brow reference to the fact that today’s government proposals will be a mix of white and green paper. Many of the more radical decisions will be delayed for more consultation. Some angry taxpayers could argue that toilet paper is more appropriate.
Author: |Posted: 6:05 pm on 18/06/09
Category: Faisal Islam on Economics
Post-meltdown Mansion House was always going to be a little different from the traditional orgy of self-congratulation, backslapping, and an ever lighter regulatory touch.
But in the end the bruising speech came from the governor of the Bank of England rather than the chancellor of the exchequer.
Author: |Posted: 10:25 am on 09/06/09
Category: Snowblog
So to policy now that the personality of the prime minister has, for the time being, been parked.
So what to expect? Mostly obviously, I guess, we look to proposed changes in Post Office ownership, now to be kicked into the long grass.
A possible end, too, for the ID scheme (estimated cost: £5bn), and the abandonment of the Trident nuclear weapons upgrade (£20bn).
What else? How about the abolition of the House of Lords and the Privy Council (£100m) to be replaced by an elected 100 seat senate?
Author: |Posted: 6:54 pm on 05/06/09
Category: Faisal Islam on Economics
Amid the chaos, it appears Team Brown are clinging on to one hope: the economy. As the prime minister himself has just said: “People are beginning to see the difference… there are already some instances of the economy showing results.”
There’s some irony here. In a previous abortive attempt at blogging I posted about electionomics at the zenith of the Brown premiership. In September 2007 Gordon Brown’s poll rating was still soaring, and despite Northern Rock, the economy was still ticking along nicely.
Author: |Posted: 12:13 pm on 04/06/09
Category: Faisal Islam on Economics
The housing boom returned in May and it’s difficult to know whether we should grin, cry or just laugh. read more
