Financial news

• Weakest eurozone economies on long road to recovery

  16-09-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Greece, Portugal and Ireland required bailouts during financial crisis, while Spain and Italy came close. How are they doing now?Jean-Claude Juncker’s hailing of Europe’s economic recovery came in terms that would have been unimaginable at the height of the eurozone debt crisis in 2010. Back then, the focus of concern was on a handful of countries that ultimately required bailouts – Greece, Portugal and Ireland – or hovered on the edge of needing rescue, in the case of Sp
  
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• The eurozone strikes back – why Europe is booming again

  16-09-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Structural reforms since financial crisis are slowly but surely starting to bear fruit, with the lowest unemployment since 2009 and production ratcheted upIt was a story few predicted: the eurozone is growing faster than the United States. When Jean-Claude Juncker gave his annual state of the union speech on Wednesday last week, Europe’s booming economy was near the top of his list. Ten years since the crisis struck, “Europe’s economy is finally bouncing back,” the Europe
  
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• The eurozone may be back on its feet. But is Greece?

  16-09-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Jean-Claude Juncker believes Europe is starting to recover at last. But the picture from the union’s most fallible economy is very mixedIs the eurozone on the mend? Jean-Claude Juncker certainly thinks so. The EU president was upbeat in Brussels last week as he gave his annual state-of-the-union address, proclaiming that “the wind is back in Europe’s sails”.Juncker’s optimism appeared to match the view from Greece, the currency bloc’s problem child. In Athens
  
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• Even German carmakers won’t save us from a hard Brexit

  16-09-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Some on both sides of the Channel believe that trade and prosperity will win the day. But in the EU just as in the UK, politics now trumps economicsThere is a shared belief among Leavers and Remainers to the effect that when the Brexit cliff-edge comes into view, London and Brussels will hatch a face-saving compromise.It’s not entirely clear what kind of gleaming alloy can be forged from the fire of claim and counterclaim on either side of the channel, but there should be a way, they think
  
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• Blue Bottle Coffee sells to Nestlé – so has it sold out?

  16-09-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  The high-end coffee chain has given over a 68% stake to the Swiss food giant – and customers devoted to its bespoke brews are uncertain about its future “They sold out to the man,” said Ben Christiansen, outside the Blue Bottle coffee shop on West 15th St in Manhattan on Friday. “But I don’t know if I’ll stop coming here just yet.” Related: Food brands 'cheat' eastern European shoppers with inferior productsContinue reading...
  
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• Letter to my younger self: you will achieve so much, against great odds

  16-09-2017 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Leaving her daughter in India to study in the UK, Pragya Agarwal sacrificed a lot to make the best life for her familyDear Pragya,You’re looking at your daughter for the first time and whispering in her ear: “I am going to look after you, and you are going to do amazing things in life”. You never expected to have a baby at 20, but once you realised you were pregnant, you knew you’d never love anyone more. You married early, into a traditional Indian family, where you were
  
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• 'People want a family, a social life': the part-time working revolution

  16-09-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  From doctors to teachers, millennials to older women, more than half of us now work flexibly. But is it a lifestyle choice, or a way to deal with increasing stress?Andrew Stone works four days a week, teaching history and politics to sixth-formers in south London. Or, to be precise, he gets paid for working four days a week; but what happens on the fifth day is more of a grey area.He first went part-time when his son was born, and initially his day off was spent with the baby. But now that his s
  
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• Nuclear power plants may not keep Britain's lights on, say Lib Dems

  16-09-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Party raises concerns over nuclear costs as Vince Cable says record low wind power prices should lead to ‘radical reappraisal’New nuclear power stations may not be the best option for keeping Britain’s lights on and meeting the country’s carbon targets, the Liberal Democrats have said.The party said there were legitimate concerns over nuclear’s cost and the risks it would not be delivered on time, just days after windfarms secured state support far more cheaply than
  
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• Christian Candy reshuffles assets worth more than £300m in a year

  16-09-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Property developer is offloading a range of high-end homes amid a slowdown in the luxury marketThe controversial property mogul Christian Candy, whose luxury developments attracted some of the highest prices ever paid for London real estate, has sold and mortgaged assets worth an estimated £340m in less than a year.
  The sum is a significant part of the £600m joint fortune Christian and his elder brother and business partner, Nick, disclosed to a British court last year. Continue read
  
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• The elderly could do with a national wealthcare service

  16-09-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Help with day-to-day banking from family members, banks and technology would go a long way to make older people feel less financially vulnerableI spoke to the daughter of an 83-year-old woman this week who has never used a cash machine. She has never set up a direct debit or standing order. She has certainly never used contactless. But she has full mental capacity. It’s just that after 60 years of her husband running every aspect of the family finances, she has now found herself handling m
  
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• Over-55s take out £8m a day from their homes

  16-09-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  With the equity release market booming, here’s a guide to unlocking the value in propertyEquity release is booming, with older people withdrawing almost £8m a day from their homes, it emerged this week. And there are more schemes than ever available to over-55s looking to unlock the value tied up in their property so they can, for example, pay off their interest-only mortgage.There are 78 product options available for releasing equity – more than three times the number a decade
  
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• Our home has become a star attraction for films, TV shows and magazines

  16-09-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Fancy hiring out your house to programme makers or for a fashion shoot? Meet a family who earn thousands
  Graham and Jo Atkins-Hughes started hiring out their home for photo and film shoots about 15 years ago when they sensed a new trend.“People started shooting what is now referred to as lifestyle photography – with less set-up, houses that looked real,” he recalls. “We were riding the beginning of that wave of change.” He is a photographer and his wife was a stylis
  
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• Is it worth getting a garden office?

  16-09-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  It will cost about £25,000 but my wife thinks it’s a waste of space and moneyEvery week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.This week’s question: Continue reading...
  
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• How photography became the hottest new investment choice

  16-09-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The rich are shunning paintings while prices for photographs are soaring, but is it an investment that works for everyone?The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the world’s great galleries. Visitors flock to see Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks and Grant Wood’s American Gothic, two of the most recognisable images in modern American art. But what has stunned art collectors is that a photograph of visitors to the Art Institute, taken in 1990 by Thomas Struth, fetched more at auction th
  
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• Ryanair cancels 40 to 50 flights a day for staff to go on holiday

  16-09-2017 03:26 via theguardian.com
  Passengers furious over ‘ruined’ travel plans, with 285,000 journeys likely to be affected by airline’s move to improve punctuality
  Ryanair has announced it will cancel 40 to 50 flights a day for the next six weeks due to a backlog of staff leave. The budget airline says the measure is designed to improve punctuality, which has fallen below 80% in the first two weeks of September.Continue reading...
  
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• Social media stars face crackdown over money from brands

  16-09-2017 01:26 via theguardian.com
  Instagram ‘influencers’ told to clarify paid-for ads, while health claims are taken down after advertising breaches Consumer protection bodies in the UK and US are increasing their crackdown on Instagram “influencers”, in an attempt to rein in the big business being done covertly on social media.
  Instagram’s popularity with young people, and women in particular – in April it reported 700 million members – has led to a roaring trade between marketers and
  
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