Obama’s an accomplished individual. Smart, cool, in control. But his standout quality is probably his ability to create euphoria. Create it, sustain it, ride it. Watch the people celebrating with him at his victory rally in Chicago and you could easily believe that the USA had just won a war or beaten a recession. Unfortunately for […]

Earlier this week, on 21 May, the Financial Times ran a short piece which opened thus: ‘There has been no official announcement. No terms or conditions have been disclosed. But Greece’s banking system is being propped up by an estimated €100bn or so of emergency liquidity provided by the country’s central bank – approved secretly […]

Must be nice being Swervyn Mervyn. Nice to be so secure in your job that you can reject any idea of checks and balances on your all-but-supreme power. Nice that ex-Chancellors of the Exchequer view you as some Sun King beyond any check. Nice to have a £400,000 salary and plenty of time to enjoy […]

You’ll recall, I’m sure, that the newly formed M. Feierstein Ratings Agency broke the news that France has lost its AAA rating. Although we’re a newly formed agency and, if you want to be pedantic about it, we have only ever issued one rating, nevertheless we like to think of ourselves as a market leader. […]