China could be hurtling towards a banking crisis, reports The Telegraph. Citing a report from international financial watchdog The Bank for International Settlements, the paper says that the country is mired in debt, with the ‘credit to GDP’ ratio at 30.1 – leagues ahead of any comparable country. Historically, any number above ten was a surefire sign of crisis to come, and certainly required close supervision. Credit currently stands at 255 pc of GDP. This represents $28 trillion of loans – more than North America and Japan combined. A collapse of Chinese banking would send shockwaves through the world.
The UK is ‘appallingly bad’ at supporting start-ups, says the BBC. Neil Woodford, a leading fund manager, was quoted as saying ‘we have been appallingly bad at giving those minnows the long-term capital they need.’ The remarks came as part of the BBC’s Tech Talent coverage, which is also questioning why Britain has yet to launch a tech company on the scale of Facebook or Google. Rohan Silver – a tech entrepreneur and former advisor to David Cameron – suggested that, while UK companies may get a small leg-up from ‘friends, family and fools’, the big bucks required to start an Uber-sized company are lacking.
We’ve been hearing a lot about passports during the ongoing debacle of what ‘Brexit means Brexit’ actually means – and it’s not just our maroon beauties that are under threat. The City of London’s ‘passporting rights’ are also coming under scrutiny. The agreements mean that international, non-EU companies who are based in London can use those offices to do business with the rest of the European Union. One of the things our new Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has been doing is reassuring big business that the system will remain in place after Article 50 has wreaked its havoc. But today the Guardian reports that this may not be the case, after all. Jens Weidmann, President of Germany’s Bundesbank, warns that a ‘hard Brexit’ (in which we do not remain part of the European Economic Area) will see banks stripped of these trading rights. Several banks are rumoured to already be looking at new premises in Frankfurt and Paris.
After a slow summer for property prices, this autumn is seeing something of a resurgence in the market according to the Daily Mail. Prices have risen by 0.7 pc over September, according to Rightmove – an average increase of £2,277. Property in England and Wales now costs an average of £306,499. Rightmove also said it saw an 8 pc increase in year-on-year visits to its website, suggesting that the blip in the market after the Brexit vote was only enough to put short-term brakes on the rising tide of property price. As usual, London was ahead of the game with a September rise of 1.9 pc – the average price of a home in the capital is now £630,974.
Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, gave schoolchildren a rare glimpse into his private life as he answered questions from 11 to 18 year olds in Coventry, says the Independent. He revealed that he only had £40 in his wallet – and said that if he had all the money in the country he would spend it on chocolate and music. He’s a dog person who owns a cat, and his favourite food is pizza. Carney also divulged that the night of the referendum was the most difficult he has had to face in his working life, and when asked if he was a spender or a saver said he was the latter. Quizzed about whether he had any nicknames at school he admitted to ‘Carnival’ and ‘Carnage’. We will let you draw your own conclusions about which better suits his style.