http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Tue, 21 May 2013 22:19:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/02/the-hedge-fund-con-explained/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/02/the-hedge-fund-con-explained/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 12:46:54 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=34609 In 2008 the hedge fund industry lost more money than all the profits it had generated during the prior 10 years. If you don't think that's a con, by all means ring up your pension manager and tell him to divert more of your nest egg to these great value money managers]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/02/the-hedge-fund-con-explained/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/22/is-austerity-now-in-the-past/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/22/is-austerity-now-in-the-past/#comments Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:39:12 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33563 We're £53bn through, with £52bn more spending cuts to come by 2015/16. What's more, this is just the start of it. Because the UK's growth prospects are so dismal there are going to be more cuts (or tax rises) needed by 2017/18.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/22/is-austerity-now-in-the-past/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/18/cyprus-there-but-for-the-grace-of-god-goes-britain/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/18/cyprus-there-but-for-the-grace-of-god-goes-britain/#comments Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:16:02 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33425 Cyrpus' banking sector is grossly inflated with assets and liabilities at around €126bn, or 700% of the island's GDP. Yet our own banking sector still has assets and liabilities equal to 450% of our GDP.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/18/cyprus-there-but-for-the-grace-of-god-goes-britain/feed/ 8 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/14/why-did-the-office-for-budget-responsibility-get-its-forecasts-wrong/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/14/why-did-the-office-for-budget-responsibility-get-its-forecasts-wrong/#comments Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:51:36 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33327 It's possible that the massive shortfall in domestic business investment was a response to weak aggregate demand, as the Government's deep capital expenditure cuts had a greater than expected impact on output.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/14/why-did-the-office-for-budget-responsibility-get-its-forecasts-wrong/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/08/the-bankers-bonuses-that-george-osborne-didnt-want-you-to-see/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/08/the-bankers-bonuses-that-george-osborne-didnt-want-you-to-see/#comments Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:48:05 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33145 Perhaps the Chancellor didn't want us to see what a small number of grotesquely over-paid individuals he was batting for in Brussels this week.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/08/the-bankers-bonuses-that-george-osborne-didnt-want-you-to-see/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/05/the-myth-that-bonuses-make-banks-safer/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/05/the-myth-that-bonuses-make-banks-safer/#comments Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:35:09 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33025 Even in the biggest banking crisis in a century staff costs barely budged. A bank's staff take home a more or less fixed proportion of its revenues come hell or high water.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/05/the-myth-that-bonuses-make-banks-safer/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/04/the-causes-of-italys-recession/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/04/the-causes-of-italys-recession/#comments Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:27:29 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=32960 Italy needs to overhaul its crony labour markets which penalise the young and inhibit long-term growth. But trying to claim that the present deep recession is a consequence of that long-standing macro dysfunction doesn't add up. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/04/the-causes-of-italys-recession/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/26/the-reason-why-italians-voted-for-berlusconi/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/26/the-reason-why-italians-voted-for-berlusconi/#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:09:48 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=32797 Don't they know that it was the heroic Monti that saved Italy from a bond market revolt in 2011 with his austerity and structural reforms? Don't they know that it was Berlusconi that led Italy into the mire in the first place?]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/26/the-reason-why-italians-voted-for-berlusconi/feed/ 6 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/01/30/martin-weale-ngdp-target-is-playing-with-fire/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/01/30/martin-weale-ngdp-target-is-playing-with-fire/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:28:26 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=32150 Here’s the transcript of my interview with Martin Weale of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. The write-up will be published in The Independent tomorrow morning. Highlights: 1) Warns that NGDP target likely to prove inflationary; emphasises practical problems of implementing 2) Says that QE “certainly not parked” 3) Sees no evidence that fiscal multipliers have been higher [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/01/30/martin-weale-ngdp-target-is-playing-with-fire/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/01/21/the-europhobes-trade-on-misinformation/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/01/21/the-europhobes-trade-on-misinformation/#comments Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:37:55 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=31833 I’m not sure why anyone would talk about the value of UK exports to the EU as a share of GDP (rather than as a share of total exports) unless the purpose is to obscure the importance of the EU as an export market.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/01/21/the-europhobes-trade-on-misinformation/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/12/13/david-cameron-was-wrong-and-misleading/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/12/13/david-cameron-was-wrong-and-misleading/#comments Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:27:39 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=30753 Including everything the Government has done will leave a couple with children and 1 earner worse off by 2015-16 by £65 a week, or around £3,300 a year]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/12/13/david-cameron-was-wrong-and-misleading/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/12/11/george-osbornes-tax-haven/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/12/11/george-osbornes-tax-haven/#comments Tue, 11 Dec 2012 18:07:49 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=30700 We have a Chancellor who complains about tax shopping by multinationals while at the same time slashing UK corporation tax to encourage multinationals to shop around and choose Britain.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/12/11/george-osbornes-tax-haven/feed/ 0