Matthew Lynn is a financial columnist and author of ‘Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis’ and ‘The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031’
Perhaps you could gather a group of traffic wardens and ask them how to build a racetrack. Or get the leaders of the Salvation Army over to suggest some cool ideas for a cocktail bar. Think up any improbable brainstorming sessions, and it will still be hard to imagine anything more awkward than the gathering
They drive up prices. Rents go through the roof. And the locals can no longer afford a home. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is so fed up with wealthy expats inflating the property market he is planning a 100 per cent tax on anyone from outside the EU buying a home in Spain. Of
Bond yields are soaring to their highest levels in almost 30 years and sterling is sliding. The government’s economic strategy is facing its first real test, and where is the chancellor? So far Rachel Reeves has been silent, preparing for a jaunt to China. At some point she will have to address the markets –
He has global experience. He has proven his leadership. And he has the management skills needed to turn around a sinking ship. As Mark Carney makes a bid to succeed Justin Trudeau as Canadian prime minister, he will no doubt make much of his credentials as a ‘rock star’ central banker. There is just one
When Donald Trump won the US election, the writing was on the wall for Nick Clegg at Meta. Now, just a few weeks before Trump’s inauguration, Clegg has stepped down from his role as president of global affairs at the social media giant. He will be replaced by his deputy and Republican Joel Kaplan, as
When the British government spent £400 million on the satellite internet start-up OneWeb back in 2020, it was seen as precisely the kind of active, tech-led industrial strategy that could re-boot the British economy. There were hopes the deal would help secure a place for the UK at the heart of the emerging space economy.
A few journalists have pointed it out. So have some Conservative and Reform MPs, think tanks and one or two of the City banks. Now, it is official: the Bank of England (BofE) has warned that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s October Budget has caused Britain’s economy to stagnate. The real question now is when will the
With job vacancies falling, and with GDP contracting, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves might have assumed that her final week before Christmas could not get any worse. Unfortunately, she will have been disappointed. We learned today that inflation is now rising sharply again, with the Office For National Statistics reporting that the rate has risen to
It will maintain the single price ‘universal service obligation’. The government will keep its ‘golden share’. And there are ‘legally binding obligations’ to protect the company. The Labour government may feel it has negotiated enough concessions out of the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky to allow his £3.6 billion takeover of Royal Mail to go ahead.
There are, in fairness, plenty of reasons why the City might be reluctant to embrace the Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein. Its disposable fashion ravages the environment; it encourages rampant consumerism; it has admitted to finding child labour in its supply chain. Here’s the problem, however. The London stock market is in such a dire state
The economy would crash, the markets would be in open revolt, and he would swiftly be evicted from office by the IMF, and replaced by some ‘grown-ups’. When Argentina elected its chainsaw-wielding, libertarian President Javier Milei a year ago, the economic and political establishment confidently predicted he would only last a few weeks. And yet,
The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is out in the Gulf, peddling infrastructure projects to Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman. His Chancellor Rachel Reeves will be in Brussels, pitching for a better relationship with the European Union. Meanwhile, the government has been pushing for closer ties with China, while also angling for a trade deal
It could be backing the hottest start-ups in Artificial Intelligence. It could be nurturing space businesses, or flying taxis, or at least something with a functioning website. If the British government wants to put money into industry, there are lots of different options it could choose. But no. It turns out that it will back
The power probably feels good. And it may help her win the presidency eventually. Even so, there is a catch to Marine Le Pen’s decision to bring down Michel Barnier’s government in France, potentially as soon as tomorrow afternoon. If the government goes, the eurozone ay well go down with it. The financial plans of
For the first time ever, France’s borrowing costs have risen above those of Greece. As of today, the bond markets have decided that French debt is a riskier bet than Greece, the country that 15 years ago almost crashed the entire euro-zone with its fiscal extravagance and irresponsibility. True, to some degree that reflects an
It turns out it wasn’t just China after all. Mexico, and indeed Canada, are just as much in the firing line. President-Elect Trump announced last night that he will impose an immediate 25 per cent tariff on imports from both of the US’s two largest land neighbours, threatening huge disruption to their economies. Trump may
Rachel Reeves was probably expecting to be cheered for restoring ‘stability’, for rebooting ‘growth’ and crafting a British version of Bidenomics to create ‘the industries of the future’. Instead, the Chancellor’s ‘fireside chat’ at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference today is likely to be rather uncomfortable. There probably won’t be any heckling, walk-outs,
One of the main trading platforms collapsed, and its founder ended up being sent to jail. Two years ago, in the wake of the failure of the FTX, it looked as if Bitcoin had finally been exposed as a flimsy bubble, with the price plunging to just $16,000 in the middle of November 2022. And
If it came from Nigel Farage no one would be very surprised. Or from one of the band of German professors who launched the far-right AfD party. But the latest warning of a fresh crisis in the eurozone comes from a far more unexpected source: the European Central Bank (ECB). In its financial stability review
It may well be the biggest and most significant choice the Starmer administration will have to take. If Donald Trump decides to impose huge tariffs on China, potentially sparking a global trade war, the UK will have to decide whether it backs America, or tries to steer a softer path with the European Union. All
