Inequality in China

We've another UN report worrying about inequality in a country:

While indicators of prosperity such as income, health and education levels in rich cities like Shanghai were approaching those of some European nations, other regions ranked with African countries like Botswana and Namibia, the report found.

"Inequalities that have emerged during rapid growth have widened to levels that pose additional obstacles (to development)," it concluded.

Now I admit, I don't worry all that much about inequality. Poverty, yes, that I want to eradicate, but that in the process of doing so some get more than others really doesn't...

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Do the forecasts point to an early election?

The CBI have come out with another set of gloomy forecasts this morning, by which the recession will be "deeper and longer lasting" than previously thought.  They predict that the economy will contract by 1.7 percent in 2009 and that unemployment will hit just under 3 million in 2010.  

It's still something that I think unlikely, but every forecast such as this strengthens the increasingly popular idea that Brown will call an early election.  Not only will he find it more difficult to maintain his Economic Saviour narrative as the recession worsens and unemployment skyrockets.  But also - if he waits - then the very real possibility of other countries recovering quicker than the UK will shatter his claim that we're "best placed" to deal with this downturn.  Watch this space.

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Is Osborne right to warn about sterling now?

So, George Osborne's unveiled his new line of attack on the Government - warning that, in light of sterling's recent plunge, Brown's addiction to debt could trigger a run on the pound.  It's a prognosis not entirely without basis, but is now the right time to make it, politically?  After all, the trends aren't currently heading in the direction of the Shadow Chancellor's worst-case scenario, and the devaluation of sterling could even result in a few benefits.  Gary Duncan puts it best in today's Times:

"How much does any of

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Daily Brief

When the hammer came down on the last lot at Phillips de Pury's contemporary sale last night, it marked the end of the most brutal auction season in recent memory.

The boutique auction house suffered the worst performance of the two-week period, with only 59 percent of the 51 works on offer finding buyers. The sale brought in $9.6 million (including buyers' fees), a fraction of the evening's $23 million low estimate. It didn't help that five works were withdrawn at the last minute by nervous sellers, including pieces by Richard Price, John Currin, and Anselm Kiefer.

The top lot...

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Citi's Achilles heel: foreign depositors

Dick Parsons, lead outside director of Citigroup, is sounding just a tiny bit defensive these days:

We are confident that the direction our management team has set is the right direction -- and the winning direction -- for these extraordinary times. Citi is well positioned for growth because of its unique global universal bank model, and because it has the right talent, the right management, and the right approach.

If you ask me, Citi's "unique global universal bank model" is in fact its greatest weakness. As of June 30, Citigroup had a whopping $820 billion in...

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