Things worth reading today include ...
Today's must read:
How the ECB’s fig leaf has completely withered away
Anatole Kaletsky in the Times provides a fascinating analysis of the ECB's policies in Europe compared to the Federal Reserve in the USA.
"Unlike the Fed and the Bank of England, which only accept AAA public bonds as
collateral for their lending operations, the ECB now lends against low-rated
mortgage bonds, commercial loan books and other dubious assets that the markets
would treat as 'toxic' were it not for the ECB’s willingness to turn them into
instant cash."
UK:
Party political battles threatening financial system, say economists (Telegraph)
Who will end this financial insanity? (Independent)
Mandelson tells Bank of England to share powers (Independent)
Mandelson says banks may shun reform as economy starts to
recover (Times)
Lloyds upgrade
lifts FTSE (Times)
Bankers still trapped in bonus backlash (Independent)
USA:
Madoff given maximum
sentence - 150 years in jail (Times)
In a Crisis, Rethinking Fiscal Federalism (New York Times)
Asia:
China: up to the (economic) challenge? (South China Morning Post)
China's banks are an accident waiting to happen to every one of us (Telegraph)
Quote of the Day:
"Interest rates are just like hemlines (they’re always changing — up or down) ... the sharemarket is a little bit of a tragic fashionista [you know those
girls who take all the pages of the fashion mags just a little bit too
seriously] ... property is the little black dress of the economy [a
timeless fashion classic]."
Excerpts from a new book called "Flirting With Finance: The Modern Woman’s Guide To Financial Freedom", reviewed by Sathnam Sanghera in the Times
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
