Comment, news and analysis from Friday’s FT,
Philip Stephens: Europe in the slow lane
Debates about the future of Europe have an unreal quality about them these days. Eurosceptics — most noisily in Britain but also elsewhere — still live the old nightmare of a united states of Europe. Yet on the other side of the barricades, the pro-Europeans are more likely to be lamenting the EU’s palpable failure to claim a say in global affairs.
Gillian Tett: Investors and the post-traumatic syndrome
Jim O’Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, has recently been sounding out the US bank’s clients over their inflation fears. The results are striking. Nine-tenths of those questioned feel worried. But a similar number are also concerned about deflation – with almost no one sitting on the fence. Welcome to the disorientating investor landscape of 2009.
Lex: Ratings agencies
If bad news comes in threes, the credit rating agencies have filled July’s quota. Warren Buffett’s decision to reduce his stake in Moody’s comes after a high-profile lawsuit against the largest rating companies. Meanwhile, S&P is in a twist over its controversial reassessment of commercial mortgage-backed securities. Mr Buffett has previously maintained that ratings are a good business to be in. Washington has yet to give him reason to change his mind.
Activist investors eye smaller prey
Activist investors may have waged more battles this year than ever before, but the size of the companies they are taking on is vastly smaller, write Sam Jones and Lina Saigol. So far this year, there has been a 27 per cent increase in proxy battles, but the average market cap of companies being targeted by activists has fallen.
Samuel Brittan: How did the UK get into this mess?
Commentators have been horrified by the British government’s estimate of public sector net borrowing of 12.4 per cent of GDP for this financial year. There are two deeply unconvincing explanations for this deterioration.
Letters to the Editor
- There’s no monopoly on credit wisdom
- Where does Tett keep her nest egg?
- Boom and bust will be with us for some time