UK Chancellor Alistair Darling unveiled substantial increases to the tax bills of private equity bosses. The Treasury has carried out a six-month review of the tax treatment of private equity groups in response to growing criticism, particularly from trade unions, that rich owners of such companies pay virtually no tax in Britain. Nicholas Ferguson of …
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Category:3 The World of Money
US protectionism for a while
As Doha dies and economic pressures rise, there has been more commentary of trade and investment protectionism, particularly among US presidential candidates. The outlook is not good as this insightful comment from a global trade forum indicates: Bottom line: there are really only two things you can expect, on the whole, from the US on …
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Global business confidence index still positive, just
The Economist launched a global business barometer conducted by EIU which polls 1,000 executives. While it is just positive, I expect it to turn negative by January when the next poll will be taken. There are differences by region and industry and these differences are in line with what you might expect.
Stock prices do not always go up
In case you are still entirely convinced that the softness in stock markets is temporary and can be relived by another interest rate cut, please read this potted history of bear markets by The Economist. Wall Street has had a good run for a quarter of a century, but if were to go the way …
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All the pork in China …
As food and toy safety concerns sizzle in the media, Ethical Corp published a readable article on the recent history of demand and supply of pork in China. It is useful because it illustrates how markets work in China. And it’s amusing. Here’s an extract: Pig farmers responded the same way all Chinese producers of …
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US September employment numbers look good, but aren’t really
The US Labor Department said the US economy added 110,000 new jobs in September, higher than the 100,000 figure predicted by economists. Also, rather than shedding 4,000 jobs in August as initially estimated, 89,000 new jobs were actually created. The government also revised upwards non-farm payroll figures for July, saying 93,000 jobs were created as …
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Africa growing with China or the west
This Jamestown Institute article African Perspectives on China offers a summary of the growing relationship of Africa with the rest of the world, especially China. Two main conclusions are apparent: China deals with Africa in a straightforward way (eg access to oil for a railway or factory) which is difficult for western businesses, particularly American …
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Corporate investor relationship failing to communicate to investors.
The results of a summer survey from Thomson Financial make worrying reading for investors. On the plus side, 36% of the mainly US-based investors questioned said they considered corporate responsibility criteria “very important” when making investment decisions. But only 8% of investor relations officers (whose job it is to communicate with shareholders) said investors considered …
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September VC deals and data
According to the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association, 107 private equity funds focused on investing in the emerging markets of Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa raised US$21.5 billion in capital commitments in the first half of 2007, compared to US$33.2 billion raised by 162 funds in all of 2006. Here’s their …
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US housing still on the way down
A useful summary of data points from John Mauldin illustrates that the US housing market is still receding. This matches the IFC chart showing that sub-prime mortgage problems are not expected to peak till the beginning of the year. (That chart is in the July Review here.) First the inventory of existing homes rose yet …
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