Alice's bubble wrap

State of the nation

"The shortlist for the Mercury Prize is a reliable indicator of the national mood. This year Britain sounds like a lonely place fixated with bygone glories".

MPC dove Blanchflower to vote for rate cut

Blanchflower is an enemy of the people.

Standard and Poor’s warns of UK’s greater recession risk

These jokers are normally the last to know; so the recession must have started.

Deepening recession may throw Britain into full-year GDP fall

Yes, it will be deep and dirty.

Indecision on Stamp Duty impacting property market: NAEA

Darling's incompetent attempt to revive the housing market has probably helped prices fall faster. Perhaps, I have judged Darling too harshly. He seems more friend than foe. So, lets hope he keeps screwing up.

UK retail sales 'at record low'

I could believe that.

Credit Crunch Good For Relationships, cahoot Reveals

This, I do not believe....

US economy grew at 3.3 percent in q2

I couldn't help laughing when I read this post. Most of the US growth improvement comes from a lower price deflator. In other words, the inflation rate of US output was very low, but when this output was put before consumers in the shopping malls, the corresponding inflation rate shot up a couple of percentage points. It is all the more strange, when we consider that US input prices are rising at double digit rates.

The implications are hilarious. If the US economy is indeed growing at 3.3 percent with an inflation rate approaching 6 percent, wouldn't it be sensible to push interest rates a little higher than 2 percent?

In reality, this growth rate stretches credibility. All the problems appear to be in the measurement of inflation.

Lehman Said to Be Poised to Eliminate as Many as 1,000 Jobs

I don't understand; isn't the US economy booming?

Nikkei: EU, Japan, US Discussed Coordinated Intervention to Support Dollar

Does this explain the dollar rally?

Fears over Spanish market prompt security link-up

Here is an example of some really lazy journalism. To me, it looks like a cut and paste job from a company press release.