In celebration of the birthday of author and poet Edward Lear, Thursday was declared National Limerick Day.
Former Bank of England monetary policy committee member Andrew Sentance took this to heart and decided the form of rhyming couplet was the best way to communicate his views on current monetary policy. This is his effort:
There was an economist called Andrew Sentance,
Who believed he was talking good sense
“These low rates are bad
And they’re driving me mad
So it’s high time to end all this nonsense”
The current members of the committee appear to share neither their erstwhile colleague’s taste for poetry, nor his opinion on the level of interest rates. Instead, Bank Governor Mark Carney and his cohort of rate setters left borrowing costs on hold for the 86th consecutive month.
Within the accompanying quarterly Inflation Report Mr Carney also revealed a cut in growth forecasts for the next three years, while highlighting the potential costs should the UK vote to leave the European Union (EU).
In the words of Aberdeen Asset Management Chief Economist Lucy O’Carroll, “The Bank has left us in no doubt that they think economic life would probably be more uncertain and difficult if we leave the EU. No one should be under any illusion that the Bank thinks that this is the biggest risk to the outlook for the UK economy at the moment.
“The most interesting thing about today is that Mr Carney was very opaque about what the referendum could mean for interest rates. We are no clearer about whether Brexit could mean a cut, rise or nothing at all for interest rates. But he did make clear that there’s only so much that the Bank can do to offset the effects of the referendum.”
In a hole
In a pattern of trading that has become all too familiar, the FTSE 100 index oscillated in line with global commodities markets. At the start of the week, mining stocks plunged following a fresh fall in iron ore prices, which soon spread to other metals markets. Shares in index heavyweights Glencore, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto all sunk.
The FT’s reporting of the story generated what must be the headline of the week.
Metal price weakness was counterbalanced to some extent by strength in the oil price after a report showed a surprise fall in US weekly crude oil inventories. The US Energy Information Administration said crude-oil stockpiles fell 3.4 million barrels in the week to 6 May. The report helped to ease concerns about the glut in oil supplies, which has pushed prices lower over the last year and a half.
By the end of the week, the negative factors had outweighed the positives and the FTSE 100 was down by 0.35% as at the close on Thursday, slipping perilously close to the psychologically significant 6,000 mark.
Falling down
In company news, shares in house builders crumbled on Tuesday after data showed UK residential property prices fell 0.8% in April compared to the previous month. The decline follows the introduction of extra stamp duty for second home owners and buy-to-let investors.
Shares in travel and airline companies soared after EasyJet received an upgrade to profits forecasts and travel company TUI rallied following a set of robust results.
Meanwhile, investors gorged themselves on Greggs shares after the company reported an unexpected rise in sales during the first quarter of 2016.
And finally…
Bankers have come in for a lot of criticism in recent years. Avarice, short-termism and greed are all traits with which the industry have arguably become tainted. But given the long hours clocked up by many bankers, indolence isn’t typically among the accusations levelled at high-flying financiers.
However, a recent report claims that the financial sector contains some of the biggest time wasters and layabouts in the country. The study by the University of Cambridge and insurer Vitality Health revealed that bankers are less likely to call in sick than workers in other sectors, but they apparently waste an average of 25 working days a year “browsing the internet, daydreaming, staring out of the window and not concentrating properly”.
Perhaps surprisingly, given the abundance of distractions, such as ping pong tables and oversized bean bags in the ‘breakout areas’ of technology sector companies, this sector contains the most productive workers. They apparently waste a mere 19 days a year.
Now, time to open that spreadsheet back up in case your boss is looking over your shoulder.
Image credit: Culture Club / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
