Bloomberg (July 26)
“Everyone from officials at the U.S. Treasury to punters in London trading pits to salarymen in Osaka are so ecstatic to see a Japanese leader acting boldly that they’ve forgotten to study his strategy. It’s great that Abe wants to shake Japan Inc. out of two decades of complacency. It’s equally important, though, that his fixes are the right ones and are implemented carefully.”
Tags: Abe, Bold, Japan, Japan Inc., Leader, London, Osaka, Salarymen, Strategy, Trading, Treasury, U.S.
New York Times (January 20)
“A detailed report put out by JPMorgan Chase last week on how it lost $6 billion from ill-fated trading in 2012 should be required reading for policy makers and financial executives. The 129-page document serves as a case study of how excessive complexity and poor oversight still threaten many parts of the financial system more than four years after the failure of Lehman Brothers.”
Tags: Complexity, Financial system, JPMorgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, London, Oversight, Trading loss
Financial Times (December 26)
Buoyed by demand from Asia, London’s real estate market has rebounded, reaching the highest transaction value since the financial crisis. Most of the interest is focused on London, creating “a widening fissure between the capital and the rest of the UK property market.” For that matter, “investment in London has been so heavy that the UK capital alone now represents a larger commercial property market than any single country in Europe.”
Tags: Asia, Europe, London, Real estate, Transactions, UK
Financial Times (December 3)
The European Central Bank (ECB) wants “to reduce the City’s role as an offshore centre doing euro-denominated business…. A substantial clawback would hurt the City, which accounts for more than a third of all wholesale financial business in the EU and 40 per cent of global foreign exchange trading in the single currency. Quite how easily this activity could be repatriated by ECB fiat remains to be seen, as location, language and expertise also count for much in markets.”
Tags: Currency trading, ECB, EU, Forex, London
The Economist (September 15)
With the tighter capital requirements of Basel III and more stringent regulations, investment banking has been radically downsizing. “The financial industry in London, the world’s most international banking hub, will probably have shed 100,000 jobs by the end of this year from its peak of 354,000 in 2007.” While “some of the industry’s shrinkage is overdue” and “this is broadly a good thing,” politicians and regulators need to be careful about moving to the other extreme and “regulating too fiercely.”
New York Times (September 2)
The 2012 Summer Paralympic Games began in London with a big bang. The “opening ceremony that was truly cosmic. It featured the physicist Stephen Hawking as master of ceremonies and Sir Ian McKellen as Prospero, wearing a gown of stars and telling Miranda, who was floating above the stadium in a wheelchair, to “shine your light on the beautiful diversity of humanity.” Going on to reenact the Big Bang, the ceremony got the Games off to a spectacular start.
Telegraph (July 27)
“Brilliant, breathtaking, bonkers and utterly British. Danny Boyle captured the spirit, history, humour and patriotism of an expectant nation last night as he pulled off an Olympic opening ceremony like no other.”
“Brilliant, breathtaking, bonkers and utterly British. Danny Boyle captured the spirit, history, humour and patriotism of an expectant nation last night as he pulled off an Olympic opening ceremony like no other.”
Tags: Danny Boyle, London, Olympics, Opening ceremony
Chicago Tribune (July 27)
In British English, they might say “I was gobsmacked by the Olympic opening ceremony…. In a more proper English teahouse, they might say I quite fancied that. All over the world, they will remember this as the night Britain put on a show that was bloody fantastic…. It was impossible not to be moved. Anybody who tells you differently is just talking rubbish.”
In British English, they might say “I was gobsmacked by the Olympic opening ceremony…. In a more proper English teahouse, they might say I quite fancied that. All over the world, they will remember this as the night Britain put on a show that was bloody fantastic…. It was impossible not to be moved. Anybody who tells you differently is just talking rubbish.”
Tags: London, Olympics, Opening ceremony, UK
The Economist (June 30)
“This is London’s year. In June the city put on damp but impeccably organised Diamond Jubilee celebrations; in July it hosts the Olympics…. the games should reinforce the city’s sense that it is on top of the world.”
Tags: Diamond jubilee, London, Olympics
New York Times (February 27, 2012)
“Official London has panicked over the rising clamor of voices from all over the British Isles suddenly agreeing that the archaic structure of ‘Great Britain’ is overdue for a shake-up — even a breakup.” Scotland has provided the momentum. Will the Welsh follow? The once unthinkable is suddenly possible. “The oldest royal democracy in the world… could split apart.”
“Official London has panicked over the rising clamor of voices from all over the British Isles suddenly agreeing that the archaic structure of ‘Great Britain’ is overdue for a shake-up — even a breakup.” Scotland has provided the momentum. Will the Welsh follow? The once unthinkable is suddenly possible. “The oldest royal democracy in the world… could split apart.”
Tags: Democracy, Great Britain, London, Scotland, Wales
