Business Comment

Hamish McRae: Treasury's dreadful position means a long squeeze on living standards

Economic Life

Inside Business Comment

David Prosser: There is no end in sight for the great retail recession

Friday, 21 November 2008

Outlook Panic over, then. Retail sales fell by only 0.1 per cent in October, according to the Office for National Statistics, far less than economists and the retail trade itself had been predicting. What on earth has the high street been moaning about these past few weeks?

David Prosser: The real housing crisis is still ahead of us

Friday, 21 November 2008

Outlook Britain is facing a housing market crisis – but not the one you've been reading about over the past year as property prices have headed south. Believe it or not, look past the sea of unsold homes cluttering up estate agents' windows and you'll discover that this country faces an acute housing shortage.

David Prosser: Regrets, they've had a few at RBS after all

Friday, 21 November 2008

Outlook He got there in the end. Finally, after months of recriminations and resignations, Sir Tom McKillop, chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, told his shareholders what they have wanted to hear for many months.

David Prosser: We're all still waiting to see those lending promises honoured

Thursday, 20 November 2008

Outlook Alistair Darling's promise that in return for handing over taxpayers' cash he would force banks to get back to the levels of lending seen in 2007 always looked something of a pipedream. It still does, despite the Prime Minister insisting yesterday that proposals are in the pipeline to force banks to do more for small businesses, at least.

David Prosser: The jams are no easier this side of the Atlantic

Thursday, 20 November 2008

Outlook While the collapse of America's largest car manufacturers continues to fascinate and appal in equal measure, relatively little attention has been paid to the dismal outlook facing the US auto giants' opposite numbers in Europe. Britain's car industry, for example, is in a desperate state, with sales down 23 per cent last month to their lowest levels since 1991.

David Prosser: Careless talk costs lives, or banks at least

Thursday, 20 November 2008

Outlook The Financial Services Authority has now set out the results of an investigation into market rumours – those nasty, and often untrue, little bits of gossip that have destabilised our leading banks this year. The watchdog has spent much of the past six months asking a wide range of City companies for their policies on rumour-spreading. But fear not: businesses from stockbrokers to hedge funds say they have strict rules in place on such naughtiness. And while the FSA has uncovered a few instances of gossiping that might have caused difficulties, it stamped on them quickly and has warned the rumour-mongers about being naive.

David Prosser: Deflation is scary. So too is a policymaker in a blind panic

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Outlook Here's a thought about the terrifying spectre of deflation now looming large if the much bigger than expected fall in inflation seen last month is a taste of things to come. It may not be so terrifying.

David Prosser: Barclays board wins a stay of execution

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Outlook It used to be the Midland that claimed to be the listening bank. Now Barclays is laying claim to the slogan, yesterday unveiling a package of concessions it hopes will be sufficient to appease institutional shareholders that have threatened to derail its Middle Eastern fund raising.

David Prosser: The Chancellor's not-so-subtle HBOS message

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Outlook Just as the Chancellor fired a warning shot across Barclays' bows yesterday with his Commons statement, so too were Sir Peter Burt and Sir George Mathewson sent a coded message. Mr Darling said any bank seeking public funding would have to meet some pretty basic criteria – demonstrating they had a sustainable business model, sustainable funding and a credible management team.

Hamish McRae: Should we keep our powder dry?

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

We are still in the early stages of the downturn but we can - in a funny way - see more about the policy response to it than we can about its scale and shape.

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