Monthly Archives: August 2011

                 To me the biggest single political issue that angers and worries people is energy prices.                Every time you go to the pump to fill your car, every time the Gas and Electricity company sends you a statement or quarterly bill, you get a nasty shock. Super greens may tell us to wear thicker woollies, [...]

      Today the Leaders of the Euro zone should be meeting to sort out their position ahead of another week when the markets can test their approach to country debt. Instead, they are keeping their disagreements to the beach and to the odd phone call.             My best advice to them is to split [...]

                 Markets have been in the limelight because they have simultaneously decided there will be too little growth ahead to sustain the massive debts the west has built up. The spend now pay later model followed by the US, and  much of Euroland, only works if enough of the money is spent wisely on [...]

«Great news – France and Germany to help pay for Greek army By johnredwood | First  Published: July 22, 2011   The winners last night at the EU summit were the Greek army. Today they can relax. Their future wages are now going to be paid by more EU loans, at lower rates of interest. [...]

               It wasn’t just ill chosen words by Euro leaders which triggered the Stock market crash. It was also a series of figures which pointed to a slowing of world growth in the US and elsewhere.               Many in markets have long understood that many western countries have been living on too much debt. [...]

                We few who wrote and spoke strongly against the Euro in the 1990s did so because we thought it could not work. We thought it would make people poorer, destroying jobs and output.              In the two books I wrote I stressed 1. They wanted countries to join which were nowhere near ready [...]

              Most of the debate about the government’s strategy has concentrated on the possibility that they are “cutting too fast and too far”. Few worry that spending is still increasing in cash terms, and may prove difficult to finance.             The government plans to borrow an extra £485 billion over five years, if all [...]

                  In the US the markets are not appeased by the unsurprising decision of the an Administration  that it will after all be able to pay the interest. They knew the President was just playing dangerous politics.  The markets are now looking at the plan to curb the deficit, and are not overly impressed. [...]