Britain

Nationwide Building Society reported a fall of 0.7% in British house prices in October, furthering the double dip in the UK housing market. According to the figures released this morning, the smoother three-month average decline accelerated…

Highlights The US dollar is still consolidating/correcting its recent decline against most of the major currencies today.  The notable exception is the British pound, where a considerably stronger than expected initial estimate of…

Below is a good comprehensive video highlighting the spending review outlined by the Chancellor George Osborne yesterday in the House of Commons. See relevant articles on this in the links. Here is an unedited version of Mr Osborne's…

Topic of the Day: Britain's Austerity Budget What I didn't say on the BBC | Credit Writedowns It Is Not Just John Maynard Keynes, It Is Milton Friedman Who Is Being Thrown Over the Side - Grasping Reality with Both Hands FT.com…

I was on BBC Radio Five Live at about 4AM local time this morning for a good 5 to 10 minutes, talking about the coalition government's austerity budget. My basic message was that austerity-lite might be defensible but full austerity is…

We are watching house prices in the United Kingdom and the United States to determine whether they have stabilized after the initial descent. This is crucial if these two countries are to avoid a double dip recession. So I am going to start…

Highlights The US dollar initially extended yesterday’s recovery, but reverse lower in Europe, despite elevated tensions in the periphery of Europe. Optimistic comments by ECB’s Stark, seeming to signal another step on the exit strategy,…

I got these charts from a BBC article entitled Fixed retirement age to be axed. The article says about UK government retirement planning: The government is planning to scrap the default retirement age in the UK from October 2011.…

Highlights The US dollar is little changed against most of the major foreign currencies, but sterling continues to respond favorably to yesterday’s budget.  News that for the first time since Aug 08 a BOE member (Sentence) called…

The following is the beginning of the Chancellor George Osborne's speech today before the British House of Commons on the 2010 Budget. This emergency Budget deals decisively with our country's record debts. It pays for the past. And it…