Economics / Markets

FIVE THINGS

Senior Liberal Democrats believe the party may have to "disengage" from government early to avoid a heavy defeat at the next general election in 2015, according to reports.

CONDENSED NEWS

Société Générale strategist Albert Edwards has warned investors who own Australian government debt they face the 'mother of all hard landings' if China's economy slows down as they expect.

Miners dragged the FTSE 100 down this morning after Australia cut its economic growth forecast, with investors also nervous ahead of key US jobs data.

Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to repay the final tranche of the £163bn in emergency loans during the financial crisis and will resume paying dividends on its preference shares.

Think-tank NIESR has warned rising unemployment rates, which will hit 9% by the end of the year, will do permanent damage to the UK's productive capacity.

The Bank of England (BoE) should have "shouted from the rooftops" about flaws in the system which could have prevented the banking crisis, governor Sir Mervyn King has said.

Fifteen years after Gordon Brown gave the Bank of England its independence, Dan Conaghan examines how it has fared.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a four-year high overnight Tuesday as investors flocked to US stocks amid the resurgence in the country's economy.