The International Monetary Fund yesterday added its voice to that of The Economist and The Bank of England, pointing out that British house prices appear much higher than can be explained by developments in fundamentals (wages and rents), and warning: The central risk remains an abrupt adjustment in the housing market… …With interest rates . . . → Read More: IMF says UK house prices too high
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In the UK, the Halifax house price index indicates that house prices are starting to drop. At the same time a discussion about how the house price trends should be calculated has broken out in Australia after data from state governments was used by two organisations – one reported that property prices have risen . . . → Read More: Are Australian house prices up or down? Keeping up with the Joneses. In other words, rushing out to buy the latest BMW because they’ve just invested in a new Audi. That we know about and understand. But did you realise that the Joneses can be a real headache if you are trying to sell your house and the Joneses park . . . → Read More: Those Joneses… The Observer lists some of the tricks which supermarkets get up to, to try and get you to spend more: The most profitable items are at chest height and about 1/3 of the way along the isle. That’s where we look most of the time. (The bargains are often much lower down, near foot . . . → Read More: The tricks of supermarkets Business Week has just published its assessment of the world’s most valuable 100 brands (pdf file). The top ten are: Coca-Cola Microsoft IBM GE Intel Disney McDonald’s Nokia Toyota Marlboro Making only two non-Amercian corporations in the first ten positions and in fact, only 9 German firms in the top 100. New entries in . . . → Read More: Top ten brands The UK house-price bubble expanded again in April by 4,5%, The Guardian reports today. As Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable says: “Rising lending by banks and building societies is recklessly fuelling the housing boom. “Large numbers of people are gambling on the house price boom – a gamble they may regret if house . . . → Read More: UK House prices rose 4.5% in April The BBC reported in April, that oil prices were set to rise in the long term. The healthy American and Asian economies are giving us a taste of what is to come, the Guardian reports today: …While the current war in Iraq has undoubtedly affected the oil market, the level of petroleum prices . . . → Read More: Oil prices could remain permanently high At the end of April, the World Trade Organisation ruled that the approx. $3 billion / year subsidy that American cotton farmers get from their government is illegal. The EU also subsidizes its farmers heavily – both the EU and the USA spend a total of $1 million / day on agricultural subsidies. And . . . → Read More: EU and USA need to loosen up on trade |
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