Higher equity ratios unlikely to impact on banks.

Financial Times (Letters), 30th November 2010 Sir, Data published by the Bank of England show that UK banks had, for many years, a return on equity which was similar to that on other industries, but which more recently has averaged about three times as much. The rise...

Rebalancing the global economy.

Financial News, a Dow Jones Company, 20th September 2010 The dramatic change that has taken place in the world’s economic pecking order has been widely publicised. While the political consequences have been much discussed, the consequences for economic policy...

Keynes, Money and Debt.

Nikkei Veritas – Market Eye column, 21st July 2010 The American writer James Thurber wrote a series called Fables for Our Time. One of these was about a bear that used to fall over after drinking too much, which naturally alarmed his family. At length he saw the...

Why Banks Should Be Broken Up.

Financial World, 7th July 2010 There are separate issues which often get confused. The first is how to regulate banks so as to prevent the next financial crisis. The second is whether we should continue to subsidise banks and the third is how to make the banking...