Use Burger King’s tax flip to reform business
The popular Wall Street dance known to every corporate accountant as tax inversion is under attack from those who claim to speak for Main Street. “My attitude is I don’t care if it’s legal. It’s wrong,...
View ArticleMonetary policy is not the answer to America’s economic troubles
US economic policy has become too focused on monetary policy, while putting too little weight on fiscal policy to blunt headwinds to growth. In part, that is because President Barack Obama has...
View ArticleUS midterm elections offer limited prospect for economic change
It is only a matter of time until financial markets turn their attention to next month’s midterm Congressional elections in the US. The temptation will be to take the bait of political pundits and...
View ArticleWhy public investment really is a free lunch
It has been joked that the letters IMF stand for “it’s mostly fiscal”. The International Monetary Fund has long been a stalwart advocate of austerity as the route out of financial crisis, and every...
View ArticleThe markets are right to be anxious
The mood in Washington during the weekend IMF meetings was bad enough but the mood in markets now appears a lot worse. Last week the big issue was the eurozone. This week the big issue appears to be...
View ArticleHow to read the Dow Jones ups and downs
The Dow Jones index has moved more than 100 points up or down on many trading days over the past four weeks, marking an impressive return of stock market volatility . Yet the broader implications are...
View ArticleDon’t fear the dollar’s ‘orderly rise’
There are a lot of crowded trades in world markets today, but the most crowded of all is probably a bet on the dollar. The sheer breadth of the consensus is the best reason to be worried about a rising...
View ArticleEquity investors should heed message from commodities and bonds
It is that season again when commentators review the year’s developments and what they imply for next year. A big surprise is the extent to which record equity prices have diverged from declining...
View ArticleThe ECB must show leadership to fight threat of deflation
As the recent experience in the US and Japan has shown (and the FT’s James Mackintosh” explains), quantitative easing may produce its strongest effects on financial markets before the policy is...
View ArticlePutin’s limited options to halt the crisis
Reports of Apple’s decision to suspend its sales in Russia pending a review of pricing occasioned by “extreme fluctuations in the value of the rouble” reminded me of my trip to Moscow in August 1998 in...
View ArticleThe errors of conservatives obscure the case for trade
Twenty years after Bill Clinton, former US president, signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, its very name chills the spines of US voters and congressmen alike. Even advocates of new regional...
View ArticleAudit is no longer the chore the board dreads most
Until recently, most non-executive directors would have told you that the audit committee is the one they really wish to avoid. The meetings are long, the papers voluminous, and the duties burdensome....
View ArticleVideo: Bankers change slowly
Richard Lambert, head of the Banking Standards Review, says it will take a long time for new bank leaders to change staff behaviour. He discusses with Sharlene Goff, FT retail banking correspondent,...
View ArticlePreserve gains against market shakeouts
Despite signs of financial complacency, many investors are yet to formulate a comprehensive game plan to navigate the possibility of a market shakeout. The good news is this is both desirable and...
View ArticleAsset sell-off reminder of financial stability threats
Last week’s global sell-off, the worst since January, had all the features that make such market events both frightening and exciting for investors. It serves as a reminder to policy makers of the...
View ArticleSanctions must prompt a rethink on Russian investments
Investors have already navigated a global financial crisis, experimental monetary policies and a frustratingly weak western recovery. Now they face an additional challenge: how to deal with politically...
View ArticleM&A boom must evolve to create growth
Huge cash buffers, together with cheap and plentiful financing, are fuelling a merger and acquisition boom that has delivered sizeable windfalls for investors. To sustain these gains, however, real...
View ArticleRising risk of currency market volatility
The biggest threat to investors may come from the foreign exchange market rather than the stretched prices of equity and bond markets. Judging by recent policy and technical signals, the forex market...
View ArticleThe dilemma of defining risk appetite in banking
When presenting HSBC’s first-half results last month, Douglas Flint, the bank’s chairman, talked of “disproportionate risk aversion creeping into decision-making”. He ascribed this to the fact that...
View ArticleBritain needs greater unity not a messy break-up
With threats to our shared values coming from many fronts, this is not the time to consider a solitary existence Read more
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