German Recovery The second quarter growth figures of the German economy are startling. This is very good news. Germany demonstrates that it has the strongest economy in Europe, founded on manufacture and exports, which can take advantage of the weaker euro, weighed down by sovereign debt of southern euro zone countries. It also points the way […]
Prudential Results The unexpectedly good results from the Pru, coming together with other good results from insurance companies offering investment products, is due in significant part to the rise in sales volumes of savings, which are now flowing very strongly. This is another piece of good news liable to be lost in the worries about […]
The Tories and Lib Dems Commentators, without Parliament sitting, find it harder to run stories about strains between the coalition partners as a decamped Westminster village scatters its rumour mill to the four winds. Attention has again turned to whether the Lib Dems, with very low poll ratings, are going to disappear into the Conservatives, […]
Iraq Pull Out The top Iraqi General has said he would like U.S troops to stay another twenty years. This is clearly impossible, although I am sure there are elemnts in the Pentagon who would love it. What the General’s comments underline is the chronic instability of the Iraqi State as a viable, self sustaining […]
Playground Cuts Certainly nobody can accuse Michael Gove of being a hesitant cutter. Playgrounds, part of some grandiose initiative by Labour in its twilight hour, are the latest victim of his axe. The problem, as always, with so many of the spending plans of the fallen government, is that it lost the connection between launching programmes […]
Al-Qaeda returns to Iraq There is a report today in the Guardian that members of U.S. backed Sunni militias are rejoining al-Qaeda in Iraq because they are being offered better pay. If this is true it shows an unravelling of a dream that was never real. At the end of the month American troops will, […]
The Senators are Back They really do not get the message, these guys. It is not in order for American Senators, however distinguished and whomever they represent, to badger and cajole a Sovereign Government of a foreign country, itself a constituent part of another Kingdom. The Americans may not like the decision the Scots made, […]
Bank of England Forecast We have learned from the financial crisis and the consequent recession that whilst most economists agree on the obvious elements of the cause, not everyone is agreed on the root cause. When it comes to how to orchestrate a recovery, there is a sharp division between Keynesians and Monetarists. Central to […]
Changing Tide There are times in history when retrospectively a moment is seen when the tide of events begins to flow in another direction. For example, Gettesburg, seen as a stalemate or draw at the time (Lee’s army withdrew intact at its own pace south, while the Union remained on the field, but too mauled to pursue; […]