Matthew Lynn is a financial columnist and author of ‘Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis’ and ‘The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031’
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We don’t lead the world in Artificial Intelligence. We can’t keep up with the Chinese in making electric vehicles, and as for building high speed trains it is best not to ask. Still, there was one sector of the global economy where the British were world beaters. When it came to making ridiculously expensive milky
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The pound is starting to slide. Gold is punching through record highs, and long-term gilt yields are hitting levels that have not been seen in thirty years. It is not a Liz Truss style crisis, at least not yet, although it is worth noting that the price the government has to pay to borrow money
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You probably won’t see Kate Moss gossiping with a Spice Girl or two by the changing rooms, but for anyone nostalgic for the 1990s, there will be at least one treat to look forward to. Topshop is back. There is just one catch. Sure, it might be able to carve out a niche for itself.
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President Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on India kicked in yesterday. The timing could not be worse: in May, India overtook Britain, Germany and Japan to become the fourth largest economy in the world. According to a report by EY only this week, it was already set to become the second largest globally by 2038,
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Its debts are out of control. There is very little space left to raise taxes any further. And the political establishment can’t agree on anything apart from postponing the whole issue for another year or two. It is a description that could apply to plenty of countries, and not least the UK. But right now,
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We already have Great British Energy, and of course Great British Rail. It now looks as very soon we will also have Great British Steel. The government has today stepped in to rescue another failing metal producer, Speciality Steels in South Yorkshire. It is, in effect, creating a new state-owned steel conglomerate. There is just
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Perhaps its cars automatically run down people of the wrong colour? Or its batteries will only charge if you put a white hood over the socket? It is hard to know what exactly the green energy tycoon Dale Vince is thinking by comparing Tesla to the Ku Klux Klan. The comparison is so ridiculously over-the-top,
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There is not a lot of good news on the British economy at the moment: prices are rising rapidly, job vacancies are falling and taxes are almost certainly going to be hiked again in the autumn to fill the ‘black hole’ that has opened up in the nation’s finances. But there is this. Free money
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The Chancellor Rachel Reeves is threatening a round of tax rises. RMT is on strike over the bank holiday. And something or other is going on with Masterchef. As the summer unfolds, British domestic politics is worrying about all its familiar issues. In the background, however, something far more serious is happening. The country is
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When President Trump unveils a massive investment in the microchip manufacturer Intel on behalf of the American people it will no doubt be accompanied by all the usual hyperbole. No doubt we will hear all about how it will be the ‘deal of the century’, delivered personally by the ‘investor in chief’. But hold on.
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As figures out today show the salaries at the top of business soaring, there are plenty of good reasons for the chief executives of the FTSE 100 to be paid a lot more – at least if you look at it dispassionately. These companies are catching up with global salaries. They need to attract talent
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If you need to lose a few pounds after enjoying the French or Italian food a little too much on your summer holiday, there might soon be a problem. The cost of one of the new weight loss drugs that has become so popular in recent months is about to get a lot more expensive.
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The Chancellor Rachel Reeves is having trouble making the numbers add up. The deficit just keeps getting worse. The public sector unions are demanding more money and Labour backbenchers are protesting that cuts are unacceptable. Meanwhile, the bond markets are insisting that borrowing has reached its limit. Still, never mind. It seems that Reeves is
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Over the last few years, we heard a lot about how the giant turbines that dominate hillsides and coastlines across Britain and Europe would power a new era of prosperity. They will generate an endless supply of cheap, environmentally friendly energy. They will create hundreds of thousands of ‘well-paid green jobs’. And the countries that
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Major listed companies have already switched from London to New York. The non-doms are all fleeing for Milan and Dubai. And now it turns out that company directors are quitting Britain in record numbers. The exodus of entrepreneurs is accelerating all the time. And yet, so far the Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Sir
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The global trading system is adjusting to the tariffs levied by the United States: for most goods they look likely to settle at roughly 15 per cent. The microchip industry will carry on much as before, the auto manufacturers will adjust, and even if it means drinking more Californian instead of French wine, the drinks
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It was, at least, far better than the City feared. Shares in banks and finance houses such as Lloyds and Close Brothers were soaring on the London market this morning after the Supreme Court rejected claims that they potentially owed tens of billions in mis-sold car finance. Instead, they are likely to get away with
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It doesn’t look like the Chancellor will hit her target for turning the UK into the fastest-growing economy in the G7. Nor has ‘stability’ unlocked a wave of foreign investment. Instead, it has plunged. As for Rachel Reeves’s fiscal rules, they have been missed almost every month since they were announced. Now there is more
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They face higher National Insurance charges, increased business rates, crippling energy costs, and if they hire anyone: crushing employment rights. Still, never mind about any of that. The Prime Minister has today come up with a plan to finally show that he is on the side of small businesses and entrepreneurs. He will crack down
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The government is briefing that Rachel Reeves is ruling out a wealth tax, and won’t surrender to pressure from the left on the Labour backbenches to raid the assets of the rich. It will only accelerate the exodus of the wealthy from the UK, they say. It won’t raise any serious money. And just about
