Category Archives: UK

Cameron and Draghi continue to push austerity

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I wonder what, if anything, it would take to reverse all this self inflicted global destruction.

Clearly evidence and theory isn’t enough.
Too often change comes from some form of ‘blood in the streets’

Draghi Says No Alternative to Austerity as Economies Shrink

By John Fraher and Jeff Black

October 9 (Bloomberg) — European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said there is no alternative to austerity as Italian and Spanish officials balk at asking for bailouts that may impose more budget cuts.

“It’s without doubt that the process of fiscal consolidation has depressed output in parts of the euro area,”

Draghi told lawmakers in testimony to the European Parliament in Brussels today. “But what’s the alternative? We need to do that, we need to do that in the best possible way, as effective and as short as possible, complying with basic grounds of social justice.”

European officials are pushing debt-strapped nations across southern European for more cuts despite the risk that they will worsen recessions gripping the region. Draghi last month said that the ECB is prepared to take the unprecedented step of buying unlimited quantities of Spanish and Italian bonds if they sign up to certain conditions.

At the same time, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said in an interview last month that uncertainty about what those terms will look like is making him and his Spanish counterpart reluctant to apply for help.

International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard today suggested bond yields in Spain and Italy may resume rising if the countries don’t meet investor expectations and seek aid.

Cameron Says U.K. Needs to Implement Plan A Plus on Economy

October 9 (Bloomberg) — Prime Minister David Cameron said the U.K. government needs to implement an economic policy that he called “Plan A Plus,” without abandoning its deficit-reduction strategy.

Cameron was speaking after the International Monetary Fund cut its U.K. economic outlook and said the government may need to ease its fiscal squeeze if Bank of England stimulus fails to help the economy gather momentum. The Washington-based lender said today it sees the economy shrinking 0.4 percent this year before expanding 1.1 percent in 2013. It previously projected growth of 0.2 percent and 1.4 percent in those years.

“What we need is Plan A Plus” Cameron told Sky News television today from his Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham, central England. He said that means pursuing deficit reduction alongside adopting fiscal measures to help businesses as well as easing planning rules to spur enterprise.

His opponents in the Labour Party have called on Cameron to reduce the speed and depth at which he is imposing government spending cuts, saying the government should alter its course to a “Plan B.”

The IMF is “not advising us to change course,” Cameron told BBC Radio 5. “What they says is we should stick to our plans unless things get dramatically worse.”

He said that while “there are signs that the economy is rebalancing,” including an increase in private-sector employment, “we need to do more and we need to do it faster.”

Healing Process

The prime minister said the IMF’s move meant it was falling into line with other forecasters, underlining the need for the government to ensure that its plans to spur growth are “firing on all cylinders.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program, Cameron said the government is doing everything it can to encourage growth and a “slow and difficult healing process” is now under way.

He said there will be a new crackdown on tax evasion and “aggressive avoidance,” when asked to give details of his promise to take further action to increase taxes on the rich.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne told the party conference yesterday the U.K. economy is “taking longer” to heal than hoped. Still, he pledged to “finish the job” of reducing the deficit and signaled that deep cuts to welfare will be needed after the next general election in 2015.

Cameron Says IMF Forecast for U.K. Coming Into Line With Others

October 9 (Bloomberg) —Prime Minister David Cameron said the International Monetary Fund’s decision to cut its economic outlook for Britain meant the IMF was falling into line with other forecasters.

Cameron told BBC television from his Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham, central England, that the goverment needs to ensure that its plans to spur growth are “firing on all cylinders,” rejecting calls for more borrowing to fund extra spending. He pointed to an increase in private- sector employment as a sign that the government’s policies are working.

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Why is Putin stockpiling gold?

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He’s probably afraid of Draghi’s policies?

Or got long gold in his personal account, has his CB run it up for him to sell?

No telling!

Why is Putin stockpiling gold?

By Brett Arends

September 5 (WSJ) — I can’t imagine it means anything cheerful that Vladimir Putin, the Russian czar, is stockpiling gold as fast as he can get his hands on it.

According to the World Gold Council, Russia has more than doubled its gold reserves in the past five years. Putin has taken advantage of the financial crisis to build the world’s fifth-biggest gold pile in a handful of years, and is buying about half a billion dollars’ worth every month.

It emerged last month that financial gurus George Soros and John Paulson had also increased their bullion exposure, but it’s Putin that’s really caught my eye.

No one else in the world plays global power politics as ruthlessly as Russia’s chilling strongman, the man who effectively stole a Super Bowl ring from Bob Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, when they met in Russia some years ago.

Putin’s moves may matter to your finances, because there are two ways to look at gold.

On the one hand, it’s an investment that by most modern standards seems to make no sense. It generates no cash flow and serves no practical purpose. Warren Buffett has pointed out that we dig it out of one hole in the ground only to stick it in another, and anyone watching this from Mars would be very confused.

You can forget claims that it’s “real” money. There’s no such thing. Money is just an accounting device, a way of keeping track of how much each of us produces and consumes. Gold is a shiny and somewhat tacky looking metal that is malleable, durable and heavy. A recent research paper by Duke University’s Campbell Harvey and co-author Claude Erb raised serious questions about most of the arguments in favor of gold as an investment.

But there’s another way to look at gold: As the most liquid reserve in times of turmoil, or worse.

The big story of our era is not that the Spanish government is broke, nor is it that Paul Ryan apparently feels the need to embellish his running record. It’s that the United States, which has dominated the world’s economy for several lifetimes, is in relative decline.

As was first reported here in April of last year, according to International Monetary Fund calculations, the U.S. is on track to lose its status as the world’s biggest economy—when measured in real, purchasing-power terms—to China by 2017.

We will soon be the first people in two hundred years to live in a world not dominated by either Pax Americana or Pax Britannica. This sort of changing of the guard has never been peaceful. The declines of the Spanish, French and British empires were all accompanied by conflict. The decline of British hegemony was a leading cause of the First and Second World Wars.

What will happen as the U.S. loses its pre-eminence?

Maybe this will turn out better than similar episodes in the past. Maybe the Chinese will embrace an open society and the rule of law. If you believe that, there is probably no reason to hold any gold.

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BOE Says QE Benefits to Economy Counter Harm Done to Savers

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Nice to see they are getting challenged on this.

With govt the net payer of interest to the economy the critics should ultimately win this one. You would need some seriously skewed propensities to spend to overcome the raw interest rate channels.

BOE Says QE Benefits to Economy Counter Harm Done to Savers

By Jennifer Ryan

August 23 (Bloomberg) — The Bank of England defended its quantitative-easing program against criticism that it affected savers, saying these costs must be weighed against the economic benefits and that the plan limited the depth of the slump.

“Without the bank’s asset purchases, most people in the U.K. would have been worse off,” the central bank said in a report published in London today. “This would have had a significant detrimental impact on savers and pensioners along with every other group in our society. All assessments of the effect of asset purchases must be seen in this light.”

The report is a response to a government request that the central bank explain the impact of its bond purchases, which began in March 2009 and will reach 375 billion pounds ($596 billion) in November. It aims to counter a government claim that loose monetary policy penalizes “savers, those with ‘drawdown pensions’ and those retiring now.”

The central bank said QE widened the deficits in defined-benefit pension plans that were already facing a shortfall before the program started, though that burden may fall on employers and future employees rather than those nearing retirement now. The impact on defined contribution plans has been “broadly neutral.”

Asset-Price Impact

The central bank also said that QE helped to boost other asset prices, benefiting returns on pensions and other savings. The comments echo those made by Deputy Governor Charles Bean in February, when he said the impact of QE on assets such as equities provides an “offset to the fall in annuity rates.”

The effect “is thus more complex than it seems at first blush,” Bean said in a speech that month.

“By pushing up a range of asset prices, asset purchases have boosted the value of households’ financial wealth held outside pension funds,” today’s report said. However, those holdings “are heavily skewed, with the top 5 percent of households holding 40 percent of these assets.”

The Bank of England said the biggest factor in the drop in interest income that savers receive from deposits was the reduction in the key interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent, not asset purchases.

Explaining the widening of deficits in defined benefit pension plans and the fall in the annuity income that can be purchased from other pension funds, it said the “main factor” has been the fall in equity prices relative to gilt prices.

This “was not caused by QE,” the central bank said. “It happened in all the major economies, much of it occurred prior to the start of asset purchases, and stemmed in large part from the reluctance of investors to hold risky assets, such as equities, given the deterioration in the economic outlook. Indeed, by boosting the economy, monetary policy actions in the U.K. and overseas probably dampened this effect.”

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The 10th plague

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As previously discussed, action was taken after the disease began infecting the core.

Headlines:
Germany backs Draghi bond plan against Bundesbank
Bundesbank Says German Economy May Cool Further in Second Half
Spain Home Rents Rise, First Time Since January, Fotocasa Says

And, also as previously discussed, I’m watching for signs deficits may be high enough for
euro zone GDP stability this quarter.

Germany backs Draghi bond plan against Bundesbank

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

August 20 (Telegraph) — “A currency can only be stable if its future existence is not in doubt,” said Jrg Asmussen, the powerful German member of the ECB’s executive board. Mr Asmussen told the Frankfurter Rundschau that the surge in Club Med bond yields over recent months “reflects fears about the reversibility of the euro, and thus a currency exchange risk” rather than bad economic policies in struggling states. Mr Asmussen confirmed that purchases may be “unlimited” in scale, a far cry from the half-hearted intervention of the past two years, which failed to stem capital flight. The Daily Telegraph can confirm reports in Der Spiegel that ECB technicians are examining plans to cap Spanish and Italian bond yields, among other options.

Bundesbank Says German Economy May Cool Further in Second Half

By Stefan Riecher

August 20 (Bloomberg) — “The prevailing uncertainty in the euro area could have a more negative impact on economic activity in Germany in the second half of the year,” the Bundesbank said in its monthly report. “However, as long as demand for German products from non euro-area countries remains essentially intact, a reversal of the cyclical trend in Germany is highly unlikely.” Growth in Europe’s largest economy slowed to 0.3 percent in the second quarter from 0.5 percent in the first as demand from euro-area trading partners waned. “In addition to ongoing strong construction activity, the outlook for private consumption remains favorable,” the Bundesbank said.

Spain Home Rents Rise, First Time Since January, Fotocasa Says

August 21 (Bloomberg) — Rental prices for Spanish homes rose 0.8 percent in July from June, recording the first monthly increase since January, real-estate website Fotocasa.es and IESE Business School said in an e-mailed statement.

Average rental prices stood at 7.56 euros ($9.38) per square meter, up from 7.49 euros per square meter in June, according to the statement.

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U.K. Unemployment Rate Hits 9-Month Low, Defying Recession

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More hints from europe that deficits may be high enough to support a bit of GDP growth?

Euro-Region Construction Output Advanced in May, Led by Germany

By Simone Meier

July 18 (Bloomberg) — Euro-area construction output rose in May, as gains in Germany and Portugal offset declining production in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

Construction in the 17-nation euro area advanced 0.1 percent from April, when it dropped 3.7 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. From a year earlier, construction output declined 8.4 percent.

In Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, construction output increased 3.1 percent from April, when it fell 5.5 percent, today’s report showed. Portugal and France reported increases of 3.6 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. In Italy, output fell 1.4 percent from the previous month, when it dropped 4.3 percent. Spanish output slumped 3.3 percent after a 3 percent drop in April, and the Netherlands had a decline of 0.7 percent.

In the 27-nation EU, output rose 1.6 percent from April, when it fell 6.9 percent. Ireland and Greece are not required to provide monthly data on construction output.

U.K. Unemployment Rate Hits 9-Month Low, Defying Recession

By Scott Hamilton

July 18 (Bloomberg) — U.K. unemployment fell to a nine- month low in the quarter through May. Unemployment based on International Labour Organization methods fell to 8.1 percent of the workforce from 8.2 percent in the period through April. Jobless-benefit claims rose 6,100 in June. The number of people in work climbed 181,000 to 29.4 million with full- time work accounting for most of the increase. London gained 61,000, partly reflecting hiring for the Olympic Games that open on July 27. The claimant-count rate was 4.9 percent. Claims rose 6,900 in May instead of the 8,100 rise initially reported. June was affected by a rule change that forced more lone parents to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance.

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More hints deficits are high enough for stability?

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Headlines:
U.K. House Prices Rise for a Second Month in June, Halifax Says
U.K. Pay Growth Accelerates to 10-Month High, VocaLink Says
German Factory Orders Unexpectedly Rose on Euro-Area Demand
Eurozone PMI rises in June but still signals steep rate of contraction
Euro-Region Retail Sales Unexpectedly Increased in May on France
Italy First-Quarter Deficit Rises to Highest in Three Years
Italy Plans More Than 8 Billion Euros of Spending Cuts This Year

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Libor Criminal Investigations Will Happen: Diamond

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Libor Criminal Investigations Will Happen: Diamond

By Catherine Boyle

July 4 (CNBC) — Bob Diamond, the recently-departed chief executive of Barclays, told U.K. politicians that there would be criminal investigations into the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor) scandal which led to his resignation.

From my 2009 proposals here:

2. US banks should not be allowed to contract in LIBOR. LIBOR is an interest rate set in a foreign country (the UK) with a large, subjective component that is out of the hands of the US government. Part of the current crisis was the Federal Reserve’s inability to bring down the LIBOR settings to its target interest rate, as it tried to assist millions of US homeowners and other borrowers who had contacted with US banks to pay interest based on LIBOR settings. Desperate to bring $US interest rates down for domestic borrowers, the Federal Reserve resorted to a very high risk policy of advancing unlimited, functionally unsecured, $US lines of credit called ‘swap lines’ to several foreign central banks. These loans were advanced at the Fed’s low target rate, with the hope that the foreign central banks would lend these funds to their member banks at the low rates, and thereby bring down the LIBOR settings and the cost of borrowing $US for US households and businesses. The loans to the foreign central banks peaked at about $600 billion and did eventually work to bring down the LIBOR settings. But the risks were substantial. There is no way for the Fed to collect a loan from a foreign central bank that elects not to pay it back. If, instead of contracting based on LIBOR settings, US banks had been linking their loan rates and lines of credit to the US fed funds rate, this problem would have been avoided. The rates paid by US borrowers, including homeowners and businesses, would have come down as the Fed intended when it cut the fed funds rate.

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