Comment, analysis and other offerings from Friday’s FT,
Samuel Brittan: Economists shuffle the deckchairs
The popular view of economists is that they exist to make forecasts and do so badly. One of the more basic rules of the subject is that where a demand exists some people will come forward to supply it
Exchanges should unite to end flash orders
Bob Greifeld, chief executive of the Nasdaq OMX Group, writes: Recent commentary on flash orders and dark pools has wrongly conflated these market structure concerns with questions on the validity of market participants who engage in high-volume algorithmic trading.
Editorial comment: Deflation danger
The Bank had not signalled its intentions, and investors were taken aback because the economic mood music in the UK had been relatively upbeat. Nonetheless, the monetary authority is right to deploy more of its arsenal: the recessionary forces circling the UK are still extremely powerful and the world economy remains sickly
Lex on the sugar high
Sugar may have become a mundane foodstuff in the developed world. But in the developing world, as a relatively cheap source of energy, it is often viewed as a necessary luxury.
John Authers’ The Short View on the BoE shock
Markets were reminded what a bona fide shock feels like yesterday when the Bank of England announced that it would buy another £50bn in long-dated gilts.
Gillian Tett: The liquidity pipes remain clogged
Faced with a political order to lend, in other words, Japanese banks were ducking round the rules — and the liquidity was notably not ending up where politicians (or central bankers) had hoped.