Banking

Would the return of the drachma mean a bonanza for banknote printers?

4 July 2015 9:00 am

Bank job Should we buy shares in companies which print banknotes in expectation of one getting to print millions of…

Osborne’s false prophet: why Jim O’Neill will never deliver a ‘northern powerhouse’

4 July 2015 9:00 am

Why Jim O’Neill isn’t fit to run the Northern Powerhouse

The dinner where laissez-faire banking died

20 June 2015 9:00 am

Last week’s deadline did not allow me to report from ringside at the Mansion House dinner, but there was so…

From surfing to takeovers: the story behind the richest man in Brazil

13 June 2015 9:00 am

The tectonic plates of economic life rumble and shift. As ever, market watchers are obsessed by big themes — and…

Which behaved worse: callous Thomas Cook or cynical Barclays?

30 May 2015 9:00 am

Which is worse, morally and reputationally — to be Thomas Cook, shamed by its refusal to show proper human concern,…

‘The problem isn’t that we’ve been slaves to free markets’: Joseph Stiglitz interview

30 May 2015 9:00 am

Joseph Stiglitz, the left’s favourite economist,on making the free market work

Why David Cameron is best placed to win the crucial Ikea vote

2 May 2015 9:00 am

If Ikea were a constituency, it would be a three-way marginal. That was my thought one morning last week as…

Why so many bankers secretly like Labour’s non-dom proposal

25 April 2015 9:00 am

The interesting thing about Labour’s pledge to abolish non-dom tax status — a squib designed to trap Tories into expressing…

So the FTSE100 has finally broken its record – it’s still not doing nearly as well as executive pay

28 March 2015 9:00 am

The FTSE100 index has at last breached 7,000, surpassing its peak of 30 December 1999 and provoking moderate celebration among…

Here’s what a real reform of business rates would look like

21 March 2015 9:00 am

Of all the measures talked up ahead of the Budget, the reannouncement of a ‘radical’ review of the business rates…

Won’t someone please unleash the challenger banks?

14 March 2015 9:00 am

In my Yorkshire town of Helmsley the NatWest branch, originally an outpost of Beckett & Co of Leeds, has closed…

Watch out: Standard Chartered is even trickier to manage than credit default swaps

7 March 2015 9:00 am

One day you’re an elder statesman, chairing top committees and pontificating on Question Time, and the next you’re out in…

Paul Mason’s diary: My Greek TV drama

28 February 2015 9:00 am

It’ll be a Skype interview, says the producer from Greek television, and not live. In TV-speak that usually means not…

How Labour’s 50p tax trick has ended up helping George Osborne

28 February 2015 9:00 am

Last week’s public borrowing and tax-receipt figures, headlined ‘Chancellor hails biggest monthly surplus in seven years’, received considerably less attention…

Lord Green must answer for HSBC’s sins – but maybe it was always too big to manage

14 February 2015 9:00 am

Stephen Green — the former trade minister Lord Green of Hurstpier-point, who became this week’s political punchbag— was always a…

Why Switzerland should have listened to Hong Kong on currency pegs

24 January 2015 9:00 am

The Swiss National Bank usually ticks away as quietly as one of its nation’s more expensive timepieces, but when the…

The eurozone is strong enough to kick out Greece if Syriza wins

10 January 2015 9:00 am

Ever since European Central Bank president Mario Draghi declared himself ready, in July 2012, ‘to do whatever it takes to…

What to expect in business in 2015 (probably not the Triumph of Probity, Honour and Prudence)

3 January 2015 9:00 am

You might recall a column I once wrote about a party at the Wallace Collection. It took place in late…

Thank heavens for Justin Welby!

15 November 2014 9:00 am

For decades, interventions of the Archbishop of Canterbury in national debate were like a sporadic bombardment of small pebbles against…

The subversive wonders of Kilkenomics – where economics meets stand-up

15 November 2014 9:00 am

‘What is a Minsky moment, anyway?’ asks Gerry Stembridge, an Irish satirist. ‘I’ve been reading about them in the papers…

How Italy failed the stress test (and Emilio Botín didn’t)

1 November 2014 9:00 am

Continuing last week’s theme, it was the Italian banks — with nine fails, four still requiring capital injections — that…

Storm warning: the world economy’s October troubles aren’t over yet

18 October 2014 9:00 am

October is always a turbulent month, and I’m feeling uneasy about this one. The FTSE100 index, which looked set to…

Why the real winner from George Osborne’s ‘Google tax’ could be Nigel Farage

4 October 2014 9:00 am

George Osborne’s promise to crack down on multinational companies’ avoidance of UK taxes by the use of impenetrable devices such…

Santander’s secret: to conquer the world, stay like a small-town bank

20 September 2014 9:00 am

Four years ago, I wrote that I knew no dark rumours about Santander, the rising force in UK high street…

Europe's leaders worship Mario Draghi. They should listen to him instead

30 August 2014 9:00 am

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi secured a place in history by his demonstration, on 26 July 2012, of the…