Thursday, 30 December 2021
Europe Marks 20 Years of the Euro | DW News
Monday, 27 December 2021
Brexit: ‘The Biggest Disaster Any Government Has Ever Negotiated’
THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: British cheesemaker says Brexit and subsequent trade deals have cost his firm £270,000
ABritish cheesemaker who predicted Brexit would cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds in exports has called the UK’s departure from the EU single market a disaster, after losing his entire wholesale and retail business in the bloc over the past year. Simon Spurrell, the co-founder of the Cheshire Cheese Company, said personal advice from a government minister to pursue non-EU markets to compensate for his losses had proved to be “an expensive joke”.
“It turns out our greatest competitor on the planet is the UK government because every time they do a fantastic deal, they kick us out of that market – starting with the Brexit deal,” he said.
Spurrell predicted in January that Brexit would cost him 250,000 in sales. “We lost £270,000, so I got one thing right,” he said, describing the post-Brexit EU trade deal as the “biggest disaster that any government has ever negotiated in the history of trade negotiations”.
His online retail business was hit immediately after the Brexit negotiator David Frost failed to secure a frictionless trade deal addressing sales to individual customers in the EU. » | Lisa O'Carroll Brexit Correspondent | Monday, December 27, 2021
ABritish cheesemaker who predicted Brexit would cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds in exports has called the UK’s departure from the EU single market a disaster, after losing his entire wholesale and retail business in the bloc over the past year. Simon Spurrell, the co-founder of the Cheshire Cheese Company, said personal advice from a government minister to pursue non-EU markets to compensate for his losses had proved to be “an expensive joke”.
“It turns out our greatest competitor on the planet is the UK government because every time they do a fantastic deal, they kick us out of that market – starting with the Brexit deal,” he said.
Spurrell predicted in January that Brexit would cost him 250,000 in sales. “We lost £270,000, so I got one thing right,” he said, describing the post-Brexit EU trade deal as the “biggest disaster that any government has ever negotiated in the history of trade negotiations”.
His online retail business was hit immediately after the Brexit negotiator David Frost failed to secure a frictionless trade deal addressing sales to individual customers in the EU. » | Lisa O'Carroll Brexit Correspondent | Monday, December 27, 2021
Thursday, 23 December 2021
At a Paris Market, Costs Rise, Even for the Humble Baguette
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Soaring inflation in Europe is starting to squeeze shopkeepers and consumers. Many are preparing for more price increases in the new year.
Florian Bocciarelli, right, a third-generation butcher in Paris. Meat prices are up 10 percent since the summer. | Andrea Mantovani for The New York Times
PARIS — At the Marché d’Aligre, a bustling open-air food and antiques market in the Bastille district of central Paris, Mohamed Sharif grabbed a piece of chalk and reluctantly marked up the price of the fragrant Valencia clementines that he sells to throngs of shoppers.
Transport costs for produce imported to France had more than doubled since autumn amid a surge in gasoline prices, he said, one of several factors that have driven up wholesale costs for oranges from Spain, lychee from south China and passion fruit from Vietnam — and the prices he must charge at his fruit stand.
“Customers don’t understand why they are having to pay more for what they buy,” Mr. Sharif said, pricing a pound of clementines on a recent weekend at 1.90 euros (about $2.15), up from 80 cents ($0.90) a week earlier. “People are buying less because costs are going up.”
Meat prices at a nearby butcher are up 10 percent since the summer. Some French cheeses are expected to rise 20 percent in the new year. Even the traditional baguette, a staple of the French diet, will get more expensive, bakers say. » | Liz Alderman | Published: Wednesday, December 22, 2021 ; Updated: Thursday, December 23, 2021
PARIS — At the Marché d’Aligre, a bustling open-air food and antiques market in the Bastille district of central Paris, Mohamed Sharif grabbed a piece of chalk and reluctantly marked up the price of the fragrant Valencia clementines that he sells to throngs of shoppers.
Transport costs for produce imported to France had more than doubled since autumn amid a surge in gasoline prices, he said, one of several factors that have driven up wholesale costs for oranges from Spain, lychee from south China and passion fruit from Vietnam — and the prices he must charge at his fruit stand.
“Customers don’t understand why they are having to pay more for what they buy,” Mr. Sharif said, pricing a pound of clementines on a recent weekend at 1.90 euros (about $2.15), up from 80 cents ($0.90) a week earlier. “People are buying less because costs are going up.”
Meat prices at a nearby butcher are up 10 percent since the summer. Some French cheeses are expected to rise 20 percent in the new year. Even the traditional baguette, a staple of the French diet, will get more expensive, bakers say. » | Liz Alderman | Published: Wednesday, December 22, 2021 ; Updated: Thursday, December 23, 2021
Monday, 20 December 2021
The Case for a Universal Basic Income | Free Lunch on Film
City Firms Set to Revive EU Relocation Plans in 2022, Brexit Report Predicts
THE GUARDIAN: Tracker from EY finds 44% of big UK financial services players are moving staff to bloc or considering it
London’s financial sector faces pressure from EU regulators to stay in UK or commit fully to Europe. Photograph: Tim Grist Photography/Getty Images
City firms are likely to revive plans to shift staff to the EU once Covid-related travel restrictions ease next year, a financial sector report has said, as the number contemplating such moves continues to rise.
Of the 222 largest UK financial services firms monitored by accountancy firm EY since the 2016 referendum, 97 of them (44%) have confirmed they are relocating staff or operations to the continent, or are considering it – up from 41% in January 2020.
While announcements regarding Brexit-related relocations have slowed in recent years, EY suggested further moves had probably been delayed, rather than reversed, over the past year because of Covid lockdowns and concessions on home working. » | Kalyeena Makortoff, Banking correspondent | Monday, December 20, 2021
Brexit was a dumb idea from the very beginning. Nobody with even an elementary understanding of economics would have ever voted in favour of Brexit. How could anyone expect that leaving the world’s largest single market, the Single Market, would ever lead to prosperity? Fact is, Brexit is a disaster for Britain’s economic future and prosperity. Nothing good will ever come out of Brexit; moreover, it will impoverish the nation. Dumb is as dumb does! – © Mark
City firms are likely to revive plans to shift staff to the EU once Covid-related travel restrictions ease next year, a financial sector report has said, as the number contemplating such moves continues to rise.
Of the 222 largest UK financial services firms monitored by accountancy firm EY since the 2016 referendum, 97 of them (44%) have confirmed they are relocating staff or operations to the continent, or are considering it – up from 41% in January 2020.
While announcements regarding Brexit-related relocations have slowed in recent years, EY suggested further moves had probably been delayed, rather than reversed, over the past year because of Covid lockdowns and concessions on home working. » | Kalyeena Makortoff, Banking correspondent | Monday, December 20, 2021
Brexit was a dumb idea from the very beginning. Nobody with even an elementary understanding of economics would have ever voted in favour of Brexit. How could anyone expect that leaving the world’s largest single market, the Single Market, would ever lead to prosperity? Fact is, Brexit is a disaster for Britain’s economic future and prosperity. Nothing good will ever come out of Brexit; moreover, it will impoverish the nation. Dumb is as dumb does! – © Mark
Sunday, 19 December 2021
Turkey: Soaring Inflation Puts Erdogan under Pressure | DW News
Wednesday, 15 December 2021
Fed Eyes 3 Rate Increases in 2022; Slows Stimulus as Prices Rise
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Federal Reserve officials suggested as many as three interest rate increases in 2022 as the economy heals and inflation persists.
“I think the risk of higher inflation has increased,” Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, said while testifying before Congress last month. | Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times
Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday said they will cut back on their stimulus more quickly at a moment of rapid inflation and strong economic growth, capping a challenging year with a pronounced policy pivot that could usher in higher interest rates in 2022.
A policy statement and a fresh set of economic projections released by the central bank detailed a more rapid end to the monthly bond-buying that the Fed has been using throughout the pandemic to keep money chugging through markets and to bolster growth.
Officials are slashing their purchases by twice as much as they had announced last month, a pace that would put them on track to end the program altogether in March. That decision came “in light of inflation developments and the further improvement in the labor market,” according to the policy statement.
Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell, speaking at a news conference following the Fed’s meeting, said a “strengthening labor market and elevated inflation pressures” prompted the central bank to speed up the reductions in asset purchases. » | Jeanna Smialek | Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday said they will cut back on their stimulus more quickly at a moment of rapid inflation and strong economic growth, capping a challenging year with a pronounced policy pivot that could usher in higher interest rates in 2022.
A policy statement and a fresh set of economic projections released by the central bank detailed a more rapid end to the monthly bond-buying that the Fed has been using throughout the pandemic to keep money chugging through markets and to bolster growth.
Officials are slashing their purchases by twice as much as they had announced last month, a pace that would put them on track to end the program altogether in March. That decision came “in light of inflation developments and the further improvement in the labor market,” according to the policy statement.
Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell, speaking at a news conference following the Fed’s meeting, said a “strengthening labor market and elevated inflation pressures” prompted the central bank to speed up the reductions in asset purchases. » | Jeanna Smialek | Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Bitcoin Could Become ‘Worthless’, Bank of England Warns
THE GUARDIAN: People investing in the cryptocurrency should be aware of risks, central bank says
Bitcoin peaked above $67,000 a piece in early November but could ‘practically drop to zero’, said the Bank of England’s deputy governor, Sir John Cunliffe. Illustration: Dado Ruvić/Reuters
The Bank of England has said that bitcoin could be “worthless” and people investing in the digital currency should be prepared to lose everything.
In a warning over the potential risks for investors, the central bank questioned whether there was any inherent worth in the most prominent digital currency, which has soared in value this year to close to $50,000 (£37,786) a piece.
The cryptocurrency peaked above $67,000 in early November, but suffered a sell-off after news first broke of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, before stabilising around its current level in the past week.
The Bank’s deputy governor, Sir Jon Cunliffe, said it had to be ready for risks linked to the rise of the crypto asset following rapid growth in its popularity. “Their price can vary quite considerably and they [bitcoins] could theoretically or practically drop to zero,” he told the BBC.
The market capitalisation of crypto assets has grown tenfold since early 2020 to about $2.6tn, representing about 1% of global financial assets. About 0.1% of UK households’ wealth is in bitcoin and similar crypto assets, such as ethereum and Binance coin. As many as 2.3 million people hold crypto assets, at an average amount of about £300 each. » | Richard Partington, Economics correspondent | Tuesday, December 14, 2021
The Bank of England has said that bitcoin could be “worthless” and people investing in the digital currency should be prepared to lose everything.
In a warning over the potential risks for investors, the central bank questioned whether there was any inherent worth in the most prominent digital currency, which has soared in value this year to close to $50,000 (£37,786) a piece.
The cryptocurrency peaked above $67,000 in early November, but suffered a sell-off after news first broke of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, before stabilising around its current level in the past week.
The Bank’s deputy governor, Sir Jon Cunliffe, said it had to be ready for risks linked to the rise of the crypto asset following rapid growth in its popularity. “Their price can vary quite considerably and they [bitcoins] could theoretically or practically drop to zero,” he told the BBC.
The market capitalisation of crypto assets has grown tenfold since early 2020 to about $2.6tn, representing about 1% of global financial assets. About 0.1% of UK households’ wealth is in bitcoin and similar crypto assets, such as ethereum and Binance coin. As many as 2.3 million people hold crypto assets, at an average amount of about £300 each. » | Richard Partington, Economics correspondent | Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Monday, 13 December 2021
Turkey Faces Threat of Financial Crisis after Lira Plunges against Dollar
THE GUARDIAN: Central bank forced to defend currency as traders respond to interest rate cut with sharp selloff
A customer at a bureau de change in Istanbul over the weekend. The lira was trading at almost 15 to the dollar at one point on Monday. Photograph: Serkan Senturk/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
Fears that Turkey is on course for a full-scale financial crisis have intensified after the lira plunged to fresh lows against the US dollar.
Turkey’s central bank was forced to step in to defend the ailing currency – selling US dollars for lira – after the latest sharp selloff.
The lira was at one stage trading at almost 15 to the dollar as currency dealers contemplated the prospect of the latest in a series of interest rates cuts demanded of the central bank by the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Erdoğan’s insistence that the central bank should keep reducing the cost of borrowing despite annual inflation running at 20% has led to the value of the lira halving during 2021. » | Larry Elliott, Economics editor | Monday, December 13, 2021
Fears that Turkey is on course for a full-scale financial crisis have intensified after the lira plunged to fresh lows against the US dollar.
Turkey’s central bank was forced to step in to defend the ailing currency – selling US dollars for lira – after the latest sharp selloff.
The lira was at one stage trading at almost 15 to the dollar as currency dealers contemplated the prospect of the latest in a series of interest rates cuts demanded of the central bank by the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Erdoğan’s insistence that the central bank should keep reducing the cost of borrowing despite annual inflation running at 20% has led to the value of the lira halving during 2021. » | Larry Elliott, Economics editor | Monday, December 13, 2021
Thursday, 9 December 2021
Business Insider: Why Frankincense And Myrrh Are So Expensive
Gig Economy Workers to Get Employee Rights under EU Proposals
THE GUARDIAN: Draft legislation would improve status of millions of workers, with likely knock-on effect on UK despite Brexit
Gig economy companies operating in the European Union, such as Uber and Deliveroo, must ensure workers get the minimum wage, access to sick pay, holidays and other employment rights under plans for new laws to crack down on fake self-employment.
Publishing long-awaited draft legislation on Thursday, the European Commission said the burden of proof on employment status would shift to companies, rather than the individuals that work for them. Until now, gig economy workers have had to go to court to prove they are employees, or risk being denied basic rights.
Nicolas Schmit, EU commissioner for jobs and social rights, told the Guardian and other European newspapers that internet platforms “have used grey zones in our legislation [and] all possible ambiguities” to develop their business models, resulting in a “misclassification” of millions of workers.
In the EU’s 27 member states, about 5.5 million workers are misclassified as self-employed, when they should be treated as employees with benefits and protection, such as accident insurance, according the commission. Firms would only have to pay minimum wages, where they already exist. About 28 million people work for platforms in the EU, but this is expected to reach 43 million by 2025. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Thursday, December 9, 2021
Brexit may not stop EU’s gig economy reforms from reaching UK: Analysis: UK-based firms may find it easier to fall in with Brussels’ proposals to give casual workers more rights »
Gig economy companies operating in the European Union, such as Uber and Deliveroo, must ensure workers get the minimum wage, access to sick pay, holidays and other employment rights under plans for new laws to crack down on fake self-employment.
Publishing long-awaited draft legislation on Thursday, the European Commission said the burden of proof on employment status would shift to companies, rather than the individuals that work for them. Until now, gig economy workers have had to go to court to prove they are employees, or risk being denied basic rights.
Nicolas Schmit, EU commissioner for jobs and social rights, told the Guardian and other European newspapers that internet platforms “have used grey zones in our legislation [and] all possible ambiguities” to develop their business models, resulting in a “misclassification” of millions of workers.
In the EU’s 27 member states, about 5.5 million workers are misclassified as self-employed, when they should be treated as employees with benefits and protection, such as accident insurance, according the commission. Firms would only have to pay minimum wages, where they already exist. About 28 million people work for platforms in the EU, but this is expected to reach 43 million by 2025. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Thursday, December 9, 2021
Brexit may not stop EU’s gig economy reforms from reaching UK: Analysis: UK-based firms may find it easier to fall in with Brussels’ proposals to give casual workers more rights »
Tuesday, 7 December 2021
Privatisation of the NHS: Allyson Pollock at TEDxExeter
Apr 29, 2014 • This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. The 1948 Act establishing the NHS gave the Secretary of State for Health the duty to provide universal health care.
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 removes this duty and introduces a market. Allyson Pollock describes why we need to worry. Allyson Pollock is Professor of Public Health Research & Policy at Queen Mary, University of London. She is one of the UK's leading medical intellectuals, and undertakes research and teaching intended to assist the realisation of the principles of social justice and public health, with a particular emphasis on health systems research, trade, and pharmaceuticals.
She trained in medicine in Scotland and became a consultant in public health. Among her previous roles she has been director of the Centre for International Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh and director of research & development at UCL Hospitals NHS Trust. She is the author of NHS plc and co-author of The New NHS: a guide.
If you believe in a public NHS, the new health and care bill should set off alarm bells: The government is easing the way for the privatisation of the health service – where is the opposition to their plans? »
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 removes this duty and introduces a market. Allyson Pollock describes why we need to worry. Allyson Pollock is Professor of Public Health Research & Policy at Queen Mary, University of London. She is one of the UK's leading medical intellectuals, and undertakes research and teaching intended to assist the realisation of the principles of social justice and public health, with a particular emphasis on health systems research, trade, and pharmaceuticals.
She trained in medicine in Scotland and became a consultant in public health. Among her previous roles she has been director of the Centre for International Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh and director of research & development at UCL Hospitals NHS Trust. She is the author of NHS plc and co-author of The New NHS: a guide.
If you believe in a public NHS, the new health and care bill should set off alarm bells: The government is easing the way for the privatisation of the health service – where is the opposition to their plans? »
UAE Cuts Working Week and Shifts Weekend Back a Day
THE GUARDIAN: ‘National working week’ aimed at improving work-life balance and economic competitiveness
Construction workers in Dubai. Moving to a Saturday-Sunday weekend will bring the UAE into line with most of the non-Arab world. Photograph: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images
The United Arab Emirates is cutting its working week to four-and-a-half days and moving its weekend from Friday-Saturday to Saturday-Sunday in a major shift aimed at improving the country’s competitiveness, officials have said.
The “national working week” will be mandatory for government bodies from 1 January and bucks the regional norm of a full day-off on Friday for Muslim prayers.
While becoming the only Gulf state not to have a Friday-Saturday weekend, the move will bring the resource-rich and ambitious UAE into line with the non-Arab world.
Under the new timetable, the public sector weekend starts at noon on Fridays and ends on Sunday. Friday prayers at mosques will be held after 1.15pm all year round. » | Agence France-Presse in Dubai | Tuesday, December 7, 2021
The United Arab Emirates is cutting its working week to four-and-a-half days and moving its weekend from Friday-Saturday to Saturday-Sunday in a major shift aimed at improving the country’s competitiveness, officials have said.
The “national working week” will be mandatory for government bodies from 1 January and bucks the regional norm of a full day-off on Friday for Muslim prayers.
While becoming the only Gulf state not to have a Friday-Saturday weekend, the move will bring the resource-rich and ambitious UAE into line with the non-Arab world.
Under the new timetable, the public sector weekend starts at noon on Fridays and ends on Sunday. Friday prayers at mosques will be held after 1.15pm all year round. » | Agence France-Presse in Dubai | Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Monday, 6 December 2021
The Competition between China and the US - Global Capitalism with Richard Wolff
Dec 5, 2021 • Prof Wolff takes a look at where the United States and China are competing, and how they are influencing the rest of the world. Only time will tell what strategies will determine the future of this relationship.
"There is a fundamentally different strategy emerging on the part of China versus the United States in their struggle, given their interdependence and given their competition... They are trying to compete around the world by developing a different kind of society." - Richard Wolff
"There is a fundamentally different strategy emerging on the part of China versus the United States in their struggle, given their interdependence and given their competition... They are trying to compete around the world by developing a different kind of society." - Richard Wolff
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