Iona Bain is author of Own It: How our generation can invest our way to a better future.
Spare a thought for Mrs McClafferty & Co. Like thousands of small business owners, she has spent years managing things the old-fashioned way: jotting down figures in a Silvine cash book, stuffing receipts into a shoebox and sorting it all out when the tax return comes around. But according to HMRC, taxpayers like her are
Back in the day, saving for your first home used to be a bit of a doddle. Find a nice savings account paying 5 or 6 per cent, stick away as much as you can every month, and, within a few years, head for the estate agents. Talk of a ten-year slog to get on
I’ll admit this doesn’t seem like a brilliant moment to start investing. Inflation is becoming a problem due to labour shortages and the energy crisis. Central banks have already responded by raising interest rates and stopping the money printers. Firms could face higher costs whilst also posting lower profits and returns as people rein in their largesse.
The inflation tiger is roaring. Older people can hear it. How about younger ones? Inflation could, after all, be the biggest blow to their finances in their lifetime. They don’t seem hugely concerned. According to polling by GfK, Generation Z is totally ‘chill’ about inflation. Older generations, meanwhile, are scarred by the last inflation spiral
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In this week’s episode: Has the Biden Presidency stalled or crashed? In our cover story this week, Freddy Gray assesses the state of the Biden presidency. With steadily lowering approval ratings, a disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, and this week’s failure of the Democrats to hold on to the Virginia Governorship, how much trouble is the US’s
The economist Friedrich von Hayek once likened the control of inflation to the act of trying to catch a tiger by its tail: an impossible task with savage consequences for our macro and personal finances. Judging by the most recent inflation statistics, the big cat is already out of the bag. So how can we
All publicity is good publicity, right? Wrong. The United Airlines controversy last month showed just how quickly poor crisis management can decimate company shares. And we financial journalists know as soon as we mention our job titles when making a customer complaint, we usually receive a positive outcome, such is the corporate terror triggered by
The Chinese New Year is almost upon us, and perhaps its animal for 2017 is timely in our current political climate. According to astrologers, the Rooster is cocky, opinionated and attention seeking – sound familiar? China, one of the powerhouse economies of the world, is entering an uncertain New Year now that Donald Trump rules
