Daily Blog 03/08/2013


  • The worm has turned. The banks and government alike have failed to deliver recovery. The people want revenge, and have found it – of all places – in the European parliament. It has declared that EU bankers cannot get bonuses bigger than their salaries, or twice as big if shareholders approve. This applies wherever EU bankers work, and to any overseas banker working in the EU.

    Meanwhile, a Swiss referendum now requires top executives to seek explicit shareholder approval for their pay, with a ban on golden hellos and goodbyes. The Netherlands is talking of a tighter 20% cap on bonuses. Even laissez-faire Britain has seen the National Association of Pension Funds demand that boards keep executive pay rises down to inflation.

    tags: bankers economy

  • David Cameron and George Osborne will not execute a Plan B for the economy because abandoning Plan A will make them look weak. The weakness derives from the fact that Ed Balls has been loudly calling for a Plan B since 2010.

    In other words, the more Ed Balls calls for such a plan, the less Osborne and Cameron are likely to sign up to it. The last thing they want to do is give the impression that Ed Balls was right.

    tags: politics economy

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