Financial Times (December 10)
“When the dust settles on the UK’s departure from the EU, few doubt that London will remain a major financial centre for the foreseeable future, as well as by far the largest hub in the European timezone, but there will doubtless be headwinds.”
Tags: Brexit, Departure, Doubt, Dust, EU, Financial centre, Future, Headwinds, Hub, London, Settles, UK
CNN (December 7)
“With days left to reach a trade deal with the European Union, the stakes have never been higher.” Boris Johnson “will have to decide whether sticking to his guns on national sovereignty… makes real-world sense given the economic price the United Kingdom will pay if negotiations fail.” In a no-deal exit “UK companies, already reeling from the pandemic, would lose tariff-free, quota-free access to a market of 450 million consumers that is currently the destination for 43% of British exports.”
Tags: Access, Consumers, EU, Johnson, Market, Negotiations, No-deal, Pandemic, Quotas, Sovereignty, Stakes, Tariffs, Trade, UK
Reuters (November 27)
Europe is struggling “to find a common solution for the upcoming Christmas winter sports season.” Germany and France want the resorts closed while Austria doesn’t. A total closure “would be costly: Austria wants EU compensation for 2 billion euros of expected losses. But allowing people to squeeze into cable cars and enjoy apres-ski may pile pressure on national health systems as Europe fights a second wave of Covid-19. Without a coordinated and strict EU approach, a post-Christmas virus resurgence could be on the cards.”
Tags: Austria, Cable cars, Christmas, Compensation, COVID-19, EU, Europe, France, Germany, Second wave, Ski resorts, Solution, Strict, Winter sports
CNN (November 10)
“Johnson has mismanaged Covid, Brexit and the economy. Now his inner circle is falling out…. The political storm surrounding Johnson and his team of advisers broke on the same day that the UK’s coronavirus death toll passed the eyewatering 50,000 figure.” The shakeup could signal an eventual concession to the EU on Brexit as “the simplest route to a breakthrough that would lead to a deal.”
Tags: Advisers, Breakthrough, Brexit, Concession, Covid, Death toll, Economy, EU, Johnson, Mismanaged, Political storm, UK
Time (April 22)
“Greece has an elderly population and a fragile economy,” but despite being a tourist mecca has somehow “escaped the worst of the coronavirus so far….with only 2,245 confirmed cases and 116 deaths as of April 21, one of the lowest counts in the European Union.” Some of this may be luck, but experts are attributing the early imposition of stringent “measures, and the way Greeks have largely abided by them.”
Tags: Confirmed, Coronavirus, Deaths, Economy, Elderly, EU, Fragile, Greece, Greeks, Population, Stringent “measures, Tourist
Reuters (January 29)
The UK is hurtling “into the Brexit unknown” as “a dis-United Kingdom exits the European Union” on Friday. Alas, more “Brexit fatigue” is likely in store. “Trade talks with every major power—including the EU—loom while there is little clarity on what the United Kingdom’s pitch to global investors will be.”
Washington Post (October 16)
A no-deal Brexit has “been compared to “downshifting a car at full speed from fifth gear to first.” The U.K. could lose “continuity of trade relations with many of the 71 nations that have forged preferential trade agreements with the EU.” To date, the U.K. has secured continuity agreements with only about a dozen of these countries and it remains to be seen whether sufficient customs infrastructure will be in place. “Large U.K. businesses like engine-maker Rolls Royce Holdings Plc and brewer Heineken NV have outlined plans to hoard supplies in case a tumultuous Brexit chokes just-in-time supply chains and creates backlogs at ports.”
Tags: Brexit, Continuity, EU, Heineken, No-deal, Ports, Rolls Royce, Supply chains, Trade agreements, UK
Reuters (October 3)
“Boris Johnson has launched a long-shot Brexit plan with a very short timetable.” The new “blueprint for leaving the European Union has several major flaws…. Even if Brussels is willing to negotiate a deal in time for a summit due to be held in two weeks, it’s far from clear that the UK parliament would pass it.”
Tags: Blueprint, Brexit plan, Brussels, Deal, EU, Flaws, Johnson, Negotiate, Parliament, Summit, Timetable, UK
The Guardian (September 24)
“The supreme court has delivered a comprehensive demolition of Boris Johnson’s government and its handling of Brexit. The unanimous judgment of the 11 justices…amounts to a root and branch rejection of the prime minister’s attempts to rule without parliament, to take Britain out of the European Union by 31 October without a deal, and to contrive a premature general election…. The immediate effect of the judgment is devastating for Johnson. It is expressed so cogently and unambiguously that it will be difficult for him to wriggle out of it – even though he is certainly foolish enough to try.”
Tags: Brexit, Devastating, EU, Foolish, Johnson, Judgment, Parliament, Rejection, Supreme Court, UK, Unanimous
Investment Week (September 18)
“The global economy is in a tricky spot…. Money markets are pricing in two possible scenarios, with two very different outcomes. First, a high probability of limited Fed easing…. This would not be enough to kick‑start global growth. Second, a low probability of significant Fed easing, resulting in rates being cut close to zero. This—combined with some limited fiscal stimulus from Europe and China—would be enough to refresh global growth.”
Tags: EU, Fed easing, Fiscal stimulus, Global economy, Growth, Money markets, Outcomes, Pricing, Rate cut, Scenarios
