Julian Harris

2 weeks ago | bloomberg.com | Julian Harris

At Labour’s last major conference before the 2024 general election, Keir Starmer gave a tub-thumping commendation of the party’s record in government under Tony Blair. “Thirteen years of ‘things can only get better’ versus thirteen years of ‘things can only get worse’ [under the Conservatives],” Starmer bellowed, effectively cementing Labour’s re-transformation from socialist Corbynism into a slick, centrist, election-winning machine.

2 weeks ago | bloomberg.com | Julian Harris

Sold signs in the window of a house on a housing development in Harlow. (Bloomberg) -- Short-term mortgage deals in the UK have fallen to their lowest rate since September 2022, shortly before markets were sent into a tailspin by Liz Truss’s mini-budget. The average two-year fixed rate dropped to 5.2% on Tuesday, according to data from Moneyfacts.

2 weeks ago | bloomberg.com | Julian Harris

This article is for subscribers only. The world’s smallest violin can be heard echoing through the living rooms of Britain every time one of the super-rich departs for foreign shores. Today, several more examples came to light, including those ultimate bastions of lumpen popularity — two property billionaires and a Goldman Sachs banker.

3 weeks ago | bloomberg.com | Julian Harris

This article is for subscribers only. “We are a small economy in quite a stormy global sea, and that sea may be getting more stormy of late.”So said the Bank of England’s chief economist Huw Pill today, with a textbook example of the kind of understated metaphor beloved by central bankers. Pill was giving a speech at the University of Leeds about the BOE’s balance sheet (more on that later) rather than the state of the economy.

3 weeks ago | bloomberg.com | Julian Harris

This article is for subscribers only. Ahead of the last Bank of England interest rate decision, I quietly predicted an 8-1 vote against a cut and suspected that the MPC would start preparing markets for a possible hold in May, too. So I felt quite smug when the decision and accompanying comments from Andrew Bailey came in pretty much on the money. But things can change rapidly and it’s dangerous to rest on one’s laurels (just ask Real Madrid).