United Kingdom
Bank of England voted 7-2 to hold rates
The Bank of England seem to be moving away from an easing bias, minutes published Wednesday show. The previous record showed three committee members wanted a quarter point rate cut but this time Kate Barker shifted back with the majority in favour of…
George moves to allay fears on public finances
Edward George agrees with Mervyn King that the UK housing market is set for a dramatic slowdown in price rises. He joins the stability and growth pact debate effectively criticising it by raising concerns about spending cuts and tax increases when the…
CentralBankNet Monday Special Feature
SPECIAL FEATURE - Mervyn King caused a stir last week saying "I have no wish to go into the pulpit" and lecture people about house prices. But with UK property values at dangerously high levels and the catastrophic consequences for the UK economy if, in…
Britain held back by isolation from euro
LETTER - Letter published in the Financial Times, 18 November by Simon Buckby, Campaign Director, Britain in Europe. He says Britain's label of the 'reluctant European' has cost it dear and membership of the euro will be the first step in repairing the…
Edward George on price/earnings ratios
SPEECH - Sir Edward George of the Bank of England told the Association of Corporate Treasurers last week that on some measures price/earnings ratos were back to the long-term averages. Is he saying the equity bubble is over, at least in the UK?
Spotting the next asset price bubble
ARTICLE - A thoughtful article in last Friday's FT by John Calverly of American Express Bank suggests that an asset valuation committee should be set up to warn of potential asset price bubbles. Though Calverly was directing his remarks to the UK, it is…
Sterling coins may contain more nickel than euros
UK - Britain in Europe (BiE), a lobby group who campaign for UK entry to the euro, have come up with the perfect riposte to euro sceptics who complain that the euro coins contain high levels of nickel which can cause skin irritation. A Europhile lobby…
Deflation may be the real danger for central banks
ARTICLE - Deflation or inflation - could the central bank guns be facing in the wrong direction? This article suggests that rather than worry about inflation, the major central banks could instead be preparing for a battle against the opposite, deflation.
Greenspan questions wisdom of tax changes
US - Alan Greenspan entered the political arena yesterday claiming that use of fiscal policies to manage the US economy could have uncertain results and threaten long-term stability.
Diverse bunch
ARTICLE - Another inflation report, another smooth performance from Mervyn King, the Bank of England's monetary policy supremo. Despite the best efforts of his interrogators, he refused to let the words "boom" or "bubble" pass his lips when talking about…
Bank of England Inflation Report, November 2002
REPORT - The Bank of England published its quarterly Inflation Report for November 2002 on Wednesday. In the report the bank recognises the fragility of the world economy and continued stock market volatility. The report reveals that inflation is…
Economists' expectation of UK euro entry falls
UK - Financial markets indicate expectations of Britain joining the euro are receding as a result of the lack of any movement in the opinion polls, according to economists at HSBC.
Cautious Bank of England holds rates steady at 4%
UK - The Bank of England on Thursday left is main interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent for the twelfth consecutive month, despite the US Federal Reserve's unexpectedly large rate cut on Wednesday.
Bank of England News Release
NEWS RELEASE - Bank of England Maintains Interest Rates at 4.0%, 7 November.
Lack of mavericks 'poses threat' to MPC committee
UK - The Bank of England risks making mistakes in its interest rate decisions because of a lack of maverick thinkers and a growing tendency towards consensus on its monetary policy committee, according to Capital Economics, a consultancy.
CentralBankNet Monday Special Feature
SPECIAL FEATURE - In this weeks special feature, CentralBankNet looks at the prospects for interest rates. The Bank of England, ECB and Federal Reserve all convene their respective committee's this week for regular monetary policy meetings and there is a…
Bank of England News Release
NEWS RELEASE - Bank Agency to be based in Exeter, 29 October.
Europe's best defence against deflation
ARTICLE - Many people are worried about deflation. Severe deflation, as in the early 1930s, is catastrophic; mild deflation, as in Japan today, could become self-reinforcing. There are, moreover, similarities between early 1990s Japan and parts of Europe…
Commission to assess benefits for UK's euro entry
ARTICLE - Eleven of the world's leading economists will serve on a new commission to consider the consequences for Britain's economy of a decision to reject membership of the euro.
Fear over house prices prevented interest rate cut
UK - Fear of stoking the overheated housing market was one reason why the majority of the members of the Bank of England's rate-setting monetary policy committee decided against an interest rate reduction last month.
UK Minister admits damage of not being in euro
UK - Staying out of the euro has hit foreign investment in Britain, Patricia Hewitt the trade and industry secretary admitted yesterday as she vowed that the government would move "speedily and decisively" to a referendum if the five economic tests were…
CentralBankNet Monday Special Feature
SPECIAL FEATURE - In this weeks special feature CentralBankNet looks at the furore surrounding recent comments from the EC President. Fur has been flying in all directions after Romano Prodi fired a broadside at the EU's Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). …
Why Britain should join the euro
REPORT - Joining the euro will deliver rising prosperity for Britain - but failing to do so soon will put our hard-won economic success at risk, a group of Britain's leading economists argue in a report published 15 October by pro-European campaign group…
UK industry shows sharp rise in support for euro
UK - Enthusiasm for the euro has risen sharply among Britain's manufacturers in the past 18 months, judging by a survey released on Monday.