Save the euro: it’s too early for Europe’s leaders to crack open the champagne
The package of measures thrashed out by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, German chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders at […]
Italy offers a warning
There aren’t many signs of national bankruptcy in Siena, capital of Siena province in Tuscany. There is the odd boarded-up
Accountancy lost sight of its primary role to the detriment of us all
Accountancy has changed beyond recognition since the 1970s. At that time the accountancy professor Roy Sidebotham wrote: “There seems to be
Board’s role ‘off limits’ in police probe of alleged £1bn HBOS fraud
THE police force investigating an alleged £1 billion fraud at the former Reading operation of HBOS has no plans to probe
Lack of liquidity bad for big bond funds
There were a few raised eyebrows in the City when fixed-income manager Rod Davidson declared recently that lack of liquidity
Horta-Osório’s attempt to reinvent Lloyds is doomed unless the addresses sins of past
Hounded by HBOS as Horta-Osorio urges Lloyds staff to “bring out their dead” The patience of António Horta-Osório, the Portuguese-born
Steve Baker’s bill would expose banks’ false profits, overstated capital and disguised losses
My work on the flawed nature of “mark-to-market” accounting and IFRS accounting standards has been included as supporting evidence in
David Harvey: Crises of capitalism
In this RSA Animate, Professor David Harvey examines the causes of the global financial crisis and suggests it is time to look
Alex Salmond’s silence on banking is “elephant in room” for Scottish independence
Since Alex Salmond’s Scottish National Party secured a majority in Scotland’s parliamentary elections on 5 May, there has been much debate about
The Osborne ultimatum: Banks must split or else
The announcement from Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne that British banks are going to be forced to “ring fence”
Puncturing the myths of “free market capitalism”
In this interview with Renegade Inc. Ha-Joon Chang, author of 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism, debunks pretty
The myth of the rational investor
The myths of the rational investor and the efficient market hypothesis have much to answer for. Arguably, they underpinned the folly
It’s time investors saw sense and stopped giving credence to rating agencies
The credit rating agencies performed so woefully in the run-up to the global financial crisis, one might have thought they would
Why the IMF needs a non-European head
In wake of the resignation of “le seducteur extraordinaire” Dominique Strass-Kahn, we are in need for some fresh thinking on
Clydesdale suffers £3bn setback in bid to buy Lloyds’ branches
FSA demands raise capital cost of acquisition, while Sir Richard Branson says he expects to bid for 600-plus network. By
Exchange-traded funds are an accident waiting to happen
Terry Smith, founder of London-based asset management group Fundsmith, has launched a broadside at the exchange-traded funds sector, arguing that it
It’s the Hayek vs. Keynes Rap (Round Two)
I love these Econstories rap fights between John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich August Hayek — and if you listen carefully
Après Dominique Strauss-Kahn, le déluge?
Even several days after the story first broke, the Dominique Strauss-Kahn affair beggars belief. One of the most powerful men
Conflicts of interest a big issue for banks
As Antonio Horta-Osório, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, weighs up whether or not to sell Scottish Widows Investment Partnership,
What Strauss-Kahn’s arrest means for the eurozone — and for France
The surprise arrest last Saturday of the IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn at John F. Kennedy International airport in New
Lloyds faces protest over boss’s £13m ‘golden hello’
Lloyds Banking Group is facing a protest vote from investors against the £13.4m package and generous pension awarded to chief