UK

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UK house prices are going… up

LONDON | This is what happens when the size of your construction sector remains under the 10 percent per GDP level, and the cost of credit for the State and the country’s banking sector is mild enough as to allow a slow deleverage process. The Nationwide house price index reported Thursday that UK house prices edge up by 0.3% in May. Over the last eighteen months, house prices have been remarkably stable…


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UK family graph: living with your parents

LONDON | Speaking of deterioration of the real economy: in 2011, nearly 3 million adults aged between 20 and 34 were living with a parent or parents, an increase of almost half a million, or 20 per cent, since 1997. The Office for National Statistics pointed out that this is despite the number of people in the population aged 20 to 34 being largely the same in 1997 and 2011….


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UK’s construction sector crumbles a further 18pc, but not to worry

LONDON | The second release of UK GDP figures shed some light on the surprisingly large decline in GDP in the first quarter. The revised figures showed an even larger drop in the construction sector, with -18% or a -1.3% contribution to quarterly GDP growth. Not to worry, said JP Morgan in Monday’s note. Even if the figures are correct, however, the sector only represents 8% of economy (unlike in some other…


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Where did the UK public deficit in April go? Ask the Royal Mail

LONDON | How much money did the UK government borrow in April? Less than you might have assumed. In fact, the public sector borrowing report for the last month brought strong surpluses: net figures excluding financial interventions gave a surplus of £16.5 billion compared to a deficit of £9.1 billion in April last year, and the total net volume saw a surplus of £18.8 billion from a deficit of £6.2 billion in…


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Threadneedle warns fears of austerity destabilises US bond market

LONDON | Investment company Threadneedle told clients that the market has increasingly moved its US economic forecasts towards more conservative views. Threadneedle explained in a technical note that, although it had updated its forecast for US economic growth in 2012 from 1.5% to 2% after some strong first quarter data, it too remained of the view that the US economy will slow in the second half of the year. Analysts said some…


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UK banks could face £100-billion bill in commercial property debt

LONDON | Debt held against UK commercial property fell last year from £228.1 billion to £212.3 billion, a drop of 6.8%, the largest British property lending survey revealed Friday. Yet the UK Commercial Property Lending Market report by De Montfort University found that while the overall level of debt is on a downward trajectory and progress has been made in dealing with the distressed legacy debt, there is a long way…


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Growth in UK economy depends on 5pc core small businesses

LONDON | Less than 5 percent of all small businesses play the biggest role in boosting the UK economy, a new report by Santander Corporate Banking has concluded. The study, released Tuesday, also indicated that this same small fraction of SMEs accounts for two-thirds of all private-sector employment. Santander analysts found that a very limited number of small businesses have a significantly higher economic impact than the rest of the UK small…


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Weekend link fest

A curated selection of links we hope can enlighten us all; some come from our corner, some do from other corners of the net. And as always, our comment widgets are anxious to get your suggestions. Isn’t it a shame when academia behaves like a military school? Beware the Greek left Time to end banking oligopolies Austerity has its timing, too What one needs for one’s success: it’s not intelligence..! Obama’s…


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The euro area will survive current austerity, NIESR forecasts

LONDON | The National Institute of Economic and Social Research in London said the European Monetary Union will take a long year and a mild recession before finding its way towards growth. The UK’s economy would evolve along the same path. In a prospect note, analysts at the NIESR indicated that their baseline forecast is for global growth of 3.7 percent in 2012. Growth will accelerate to 4 percent in 2013. “We…


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Weekend link fest

A curated selection of links we hope can enlighten us all; some come from our corner, some do from other corners of the net. And as always, our comment widgets are anxious to get your suggestions. Facebook? That was something for my father Will we miss Sarko? Neither religion, nor philosophy: physics, I tell you Germany doesn’t show any respect The euro, that sentiment Hollande is a menace for you, too…