Small cut - deeper wounds?
After 14 months of standing pat, the first move was always going to surprise somebody. But last week's quarter per cent cut in base rates by the Bank of England was a rud...
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Dental caries in the Bank gift horse's mouth
At 11.59 yesterday morning, the City was thinking about an early lunch. The Bank of England was about to announce its decision on interest rates, but few expected anythin...
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Keep your sights fixed on safe returns in retirement
The fact that the Bank of England base rate has remained unchanged at 4 per cent for more than a year ought to be good news for savers - particularly those who rely on in...
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Big bad apple
In Arthur Penn's vastly underrated but nonetheless awful 1976 movie The Missouri Breaks, Marlon Brando so completely dominates the action with his ridiculous Irish brogue...
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Penny drops on crafty cut
Several leading banks were this week accused of using the festive period to bury bad news about cuts to their savings rates. The Halifax, Bank of Scotland, First Direct a...
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Loss and retention
The massive differences in drop-out rates between universities are a running sore in the higher education sector. For years universities and colleges resisted informed de...
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ECB's slow progress towards 2%
Nobody could ever accuse the ECB of being hasty. Wim Duisenberg's announcement yesterday of a half-point cut in interest rates to 2.75% was the first move in 13 months - ...
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Size of cut shocks Wall Street
The Federal Reserve, America's central bank, shocked Wall Street last night when it unveiled an emergency half-point cut in US interest rates to prevent the world's large...
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Stone cold certainties will force the Fed's hand
It is no longer a question of whether Alan Greenspan will cut American interest rates, but when and by how much. There were already signs from the weekend's deep-throat s...
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What the tourist board doesn't tell you
People travelling to South Africa are paying much higher rates for food and accommodation simply for having a British accent. Hotels and restaurants are charging up to fo...
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