The rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation in the UK fell to 4.2% in December, down from 4.8% the month before, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation – which includes mortgage interest payments – fell to 4.8% from 5.2%
A little bit of reasonable news, but a drop 0.6% is really a statistically insignificant number.
All I can think is: we gave you the Internet. We gave you the Web. We gave you MP3 and MP4. We gave you e-commerce, micropayments, PayPal, Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, the iPad, the iPhone, the laptop, 3G, wifi–hell, you can even get online while youre on an AIRPLANE. What the hell more do you want from us?
Take the truck, the boat, the helicopter, that weve sent you. Dont wait for the time machine, because were never going to invent something that returns you to 1965 when copying was hard and you could treat the customers convenience with contempt.
Nearly a year’s worth of anticrisis lending measures have sent the ECB’s books to a record EUR2.73 trillion, some 29% of the euro zone’s gross domestic product. This expansion, capturing both the collateral pledged by banks receiving funds from the central bank and the sovereign bonds it has purchased for its own account, has been welcomed by bond investors, who see it as a stabilizing force. But the excess liquidity bodes for a weaker euro, and has some wondering if the ECB’s own solvency could eventually be in peril.
via Swelling ECB Balance Sheet Brings Relief, Poses Risk For Euro – WSJ.com.
BOTH Delta Air Lines and US Airways have expressed interest in possibly acquiring the bankrupt American Airlines, according to multiple reports this week. Hunter Keay, an analyst with Wolfe Trahan & Co, told Bloomberg he expects the odds of American being an independent company post-bankruptcy are “20 percent, at most.” So if a merger looks inevitable, which suitor would best for business travellers?
via American Airlines’ bankruptcy: Seeking the best partner for AA | The Economist.
“There is a little pause in these discussions. But I am confident that they will continue and we will reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable in time,” Papademos said according to a transcript of an interview with CNBC.
via Greek PM confident debt swap to be clinched in time | Reuters.
Private Bond holders i.e. hedge funds are never going to take any haircut on their bonds, the reasons outlined here.
Greek default is now inevitable there is absolutely nothing that can be done except for wasting a monumental amount of tax payers money delaying default for another 6 months, and thus multiplying the pain.
The repeated application of a bad idea, does not ever result in the required outcome.
Angela Merkel
“I myself never saw a Triple-A fund as that important”
via The Slog.
Just incase you where in any doubt how monumentally blind and stupid Angela Merkel appears to be, below is a short excerpt of S&Ps’ reasoning for the downgrading of EU countries. Taking particular attention to note the lack of any kind of confidence in the EU to get anything done.
S&P:
More fundamentally, we believe that the proposed measures do not directly address the core underlying factors that have contributed to the market stress. It is our view that the currently experienced financial stress does not in the first instance result from fiscal mismanagement. This to us is supported by the examples of Spain and Ireland, which ran an average fiscal deficit of 0.4% of GDP and a surplus of 1.6% of GDP, respectively, during the period 1999-2007 (versus a deficit of 2.3% of GDP in the case of Germany), while reducing significantly their public debt ratio during that period. The policies and rules agreed at the summit would not have indicated that the boom-time developments in those countries contained the seeds of the current market turmoil.
Bond Holders walk away from Greece Bond Haircut:
This week also hailed the final nail in the coffin for the Greek haircut idea, with the IIF walking away from talks to “pause for reflection” link Interesting to note that media reported this as a done deal back in November.
It was never going to happen, why would the major bond holders voluntarily take cuts on their holdings. Bare in mind that the vast majority of holders of Greek debt now appear to be Hedge Funds.
These Hedge Fund being neither stupid nor suicidal knew that the EU was unlikely to force any cut, and were more likely to pay them out. Secondly, you really think they didn’t by insurance just incase? So why would you take a cut, when both options available to you are up.
Bloomberg: US Banks heavily exposed to CDS on EU Debt.
A spokeswoman for the BHA said: “The governments new wording is quite wide and in practice could prevent those who promote extreme religious or particular spiritual or pseudoscientific approaches from including them as part of the school curriculum as science or as evidence-based.”
via Richard Dawkins celebrates a victory over creationists | Education | The Observer.
Am I missing something here, if its not science it can’t be taught as science… Also as far as creationism and darwinism goes – teach them both in schools but one belongs in a science lesson and the other in religious studies.
In the pre-austerity Athens budgets, there were quite a few items on the military’s shopping list… 60 Eurofighter aircraft, €4 billion. French frigates and patrol boats for over €4 billion and €400 million respectively. German U-boats, for €2 billion. But – you’d think – all that’s had to go by the board.
via GREEK CRISIS: AND YET MORE FRANCO-GERMAN HYPOCRISY | The Slog.
Franco-German hypocrisy of the highest order, it really doesn’t take a genius to work out the EU and for that matter the whole banking axis, is rotten and corrupt to its very core.
Lets not forget the French and German Pension liabilities that need paying.
Now someone by the name of Scott Morgan has launched this e-petition:
“In keeping with the great lady’s legacy, Margaret Thatcher’s state funeral should be funded and managed by the private sector to offer the best value and choice for end users and other stakeholders. The undersigned believe that the legacy of the former PM deserves nothing less and that offering this unique opportunity is an ideal way to cut government expense and further prove the merits of liberalised economics Baroness Thatcher spearheaded.”
The way I see it, there’s a lack of need for any legislation at all. As a publisher, I have a very deep experience here, and the fact is that piracy is not a significant problem.
via Tim O’Reilly: Why I’m fighting SOPA — Tech News and Analysis.
