More Irish Troubles
If the Irish government wanted to issue new ten-year debt this instant, they would have to agree to repay at about 7.8 per cent, a record and a very sharp [...]
German’s growth outlook – mixed, not nixed
German industrial production fell 0.8 per cent in September, according to the Berlin economics ministry, which was a bigger drop than analysts expected. After Friday’s disappointing orders data, the latest [...]
Restaurant: Odette’s, London NW8 | John Lanchester
What’s an ambitious hot young chef doing in a neighbourhood joint in a quiet London street? Cooking up a storm, that’s whatIs it OK to admit to being slightly obsessed with the TV programme Great British Menu? Assuming it isn’t, let’s just say that – ahem – my friend first clocked the Welsh chef Bryn [...]
Let them eat cheese: anger as Ireland plans handouts of cheddar to the poor
Irish government’s offer of chunks from EU cheese mountain prompts outrage from opposition politicians and publicThe country may be a few heartbeats away from intervention by the International Monetary Fund but today the Irish government had a novel message for the public: let them eat cheese.Brendan Smith, the agriculture minister, announced a European Union-funded scheme [...]
What we talk about when we talk about Germany
It’s been a quiet week in Brussels, with much of the city away thanks to a two-day bank holiday and a fall break in the school year. Those who have remained in town continue to debate the fallout of last week’s European summit, where all 27…
Leicester’s top 10 budget eats for Diwali
Tony Naylor travels to the ‘curry capital of Britain’ for Diwali to find the best budget eats in the cityNaan better? Have your say on the blogToday is Diwali Day, when, annually, tens of thousands of people gather in Leicester to celebrate the festival of light and the start of the Hindu new year. Here [...]
ECB vs. SWF vs. EFSF
It’s acronym war. Sovereign wealth funds in Norway and Russia are backing away from Irish and Spanish debt, sending bond prices down and yields up – in some cases to [...]
Swiss core inflation turns negative
For the first time since records began, core prices are falling in Switzerland. Core inflation, which excludes food, drinks, tobacco, seasonal products, energy and oil, recorded a 0.1 per cent [...]
ECB holds stance, too
As expected, no change at the European Central Bank today. The interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the [...]
Iceland cuts rates & will revise exit from controls
Declining inflation expectations and a strengthening currency have prompted another substantial 75bp cut to Iceland’s key rates. The country has not stopped cutting since the financial crisis (see chart). No [...]
ECB intervenes as peripheral woes return
It looks likely the ECB has been buying Irish bonds this week as bond prices have tumbled in peripheral eurozone countries; Business Week quotes three traders confirming the central bank [...]
Crunch time for the ECB
As in the rest of the world, flows of bank credit to banks and households have slowed dramatically in the eurozone during the past few years. But the official line, [...]
Ireland sees bond yields rise to record levels
Investors in Irish debt demand spending cuts but higher growth, as government austerity plans are called into questionIreland’s escape from the financial crisis was in doubt after fears over rising debt levels, falling house prices and low growth pushed the cost of government borrowing to record levels.Amid concern among investors that the government will [...]
Germany’s working – Britain can, too | David Gow
A decade ago we considered the German economy a write-off. Now David Cameron looks to Angela Merkel for inspiration”We’re on the expressway to full employment,” crowed Rainer Brüderle, Germany’s economics minister, last week. The country’s labour market was evolving “from problem child to model student”. He was celebrating news that German unemployment had dipped below [...]