Link to the article: Channel 4
Last Modified: 11 Mar 2009
By: Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Pop stars get together to fight for their rights but insist it isn't a new trades union. Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Billy Bragg, one of the board members of Featured Artists Coalition.
Radiohead, Iron Maiden and Kate Nash have all signed up to Featured Artists Coalition. It aims to help artists "take control of their music and rights."
Their inaugural meeting comes two days after the major record labels withdrew their music from the video website YouTube in a dispute over payment.
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Toyota: 10 per cent pay cuts in UK
Link to the article: Channel 4
Last Modified: 11 Mar 2009
By: Andrew Thomas
Car giant Toyota cuts pay and production at its factories in Britain for one year.
Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has announced it will cut working hours and pay by 10 per cent at its UK plants, after announcing it's first ever loss late last year.
The cuts will start from Wednesday 1 April at the company's sites in Derby and north Wales and last for a year.
The announcement was made as car companies and unions meet with ministers to discuss a £2.3bn support package for the industry.
Last Modified: 11 Mar 2009
By: Andrew Thomas
Car giant Toyota cuts pay and production at its factories in Britain for one year.
Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has announced it will cut working hours and pay by 10 per cent at its UK plants, after announcing it's first ever loss late last year.
The cuts will start from Wednesday 1 April at the company's sites in Derby and north Wales and last for a year.
The announcement was made as car companies and unions meet with ministers to discuss a £2.3bn support package for the industry.
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Will Spotify make music history
Link to the article: Channel 4
Last Modified: 07 Mar 2009
By: Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Now you won't have heard of him but some believe Daniel Ek will earn himself a place in music history alongside the inventors of vinyl, CDs and the download.
He's the Swedish head of an online music service called Spotify, which could signal the end of paying for download music, with most major record companies are already on board.
This week it ecorded its millionth subscriber as well as coming of age in a less glorious way - by falling victim to a significant security breach.
Last Modified: 07 Mar 2009
By: Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Now you won't have heard of him but some believe Daniel Ek will earn himself a place in music history alongside the inventors of vinyl, CDs and the download.
He's the Swedish head of an online music service called Spotify, which could signal the end of paying for download music, with most major record companies are already on board.
This week it ecorded its millionth subscriber as well as coming of age in a less glorious way - by falling victim to a significant security breach.
Treasury takes control of Lloyds
Link to the article: Channel 4
Last Modified: 07 Mar 2009
By: Faisal Islam
British taxpayers own another struggling bank tonight after the Government took a controlling stake in the Lloyds banking group. It also agreed to underwrite £260bn in toxic assets.
Under a deal agreed late last night, the Treasury will now own 65 per cent of the company.
Meanwhile Lloyds has been ordered to provide £28bn in new mortgage and business lending over the next two years, to help boost the economy.
Last Modified: 07 Mar 2009
By: Faisal Islam
British taxpayers own another struggling bank tonight after the Government took a controlling stake in the Lloyds banking group. It also agreed to underwrite £260bn in toxic assets.
Under a deal agreed late last night, the Treasury will now own 65 per cent of the company.
Meanwhile Lloyds has been ordered to provide £28bn in new mortgage and business lending over the next two years, to help boost the economy.
Friday, 6 March 2009
Public figures in the firing line
Link to the article: Channel 4
Last Modified: 06 Mar 2009
By: Lewis Hannam
Lord Mandelson joins a long list of public figures to bear the brunt of a messy protest. We look back at a choice selection.
The business secretary was ambushed this morning by Leila Deen, from the Plane Stupid campaign group.
Ms Deen threw a mixture of custard and pea soup over the cabinet minister, in protest to the planned extension of Heathrow Airport.
But Mandelson is not alone in having to send his suit to the dry-cleaners, some of the most powerful people in the world have been targeted by protesters armed with pies, eggs, powder or paint.
Last Modified: 06 Mar 2009
By: Lewis Hannam
Lord Mandelson joins a long list of public figures to bear the brunt of a messy protest. We look back at a choice selection.
The business secretary was ambushed this morning by Leila Deen, from the Plane Stupid campaign group.
Ms Deen threw a mixture of custard and pea soup over the cabinet minister, in protest to the planned extension of Heathrow Airport.
But Mandelson is not alone in having to send his suit to the dry-cleaners, some of the most powerful people in the world have been targeted by protesters armed with pies, eggs, powder or paint.
Mandelson: say it don't throw it
Link to the article: Channel 4
Last Modified: 06 Mar 2009
By: Tom Clarke, Victoria Macdonald
Lord Mandelson calls an attack an "adolescent stunt" thanking the protester for helping to put the government's low carbon economy plans on the map.
The business secretary said he "would rather people said it to my face than throw it" after he was splattered with green custard by an environmental protester as he arrived at a conference to promote green industry.
MPs said the low carbon route was the best way of helping the country recover from recession, but are ministers living up to their green rhetoric?
Last Modified: 06 Mar 2009
By: Tom Clarke, Victoria Macdonald
Lord Mandelson calls an attack an "adolescent stunt" thanking the protester for helping to put the government's low carbon economy plans on the map.
The business secretary said he "would rather people said it to my face than throw it" after he was splattered with green custard by an environmental protester as he arrived at a conference to promote green industry.
MPs said the low carbon route was the best way of helping the country recover from recession, but are ministers living up to their green rhetoric?
Thursday, 5 March 2009
The power of green technology
(01:42) Report
Mar 5 - From the 'zero watt PC' to a smart electricity meter that allows consumers to monitor their power consumption in real-time, Green IT is getting much attention at CeBIT.
The number of vendors at Europe's largest technology trade fair has dwindled due to the global economic crisis but the environmental element of this show has branched out - growing six-fold over last year.
Reuters Technology Correspondent Matt Cowan reports.
Mar 5 - From the 'zero watt PC' to a smart electricity meter that allows consumers to monitor their power consumption in real-time, Green IT is getting much attention at CeBIT.
The number of vendors at Europe's largest technology trade fair has dwindled due to the global economic crisis but the environmental element of this show has branched out - growing six-fold over last year.
Reuters Technology Correspondent Matt Cowan reports.
Now for something completely different
Link to the full article: Economist
Mar 5th 2009
From The Economist print edition
The Bank of England acts to boost the money supply
JUST as the supposedly improbable keeps on happening to banks in the financial crisis, so Britain’s economic managers are finding themselves adopting policies they never dreamed would be necessary. The savage downturn induced by the credit crunch has brought the Treasury centre stage, as it throws billions at banks and revives the lost art of active fiscal policy. The Bank of England, for its part, is breaking ever more unconventional ground.
On March 5th the central bank advanced to the frontier of orthodox monetary policy, lowering once again the interest rate it pays on the balances that commercial banks hold with it as liquid reserves. The half-point reduction brought the base rate down to 0.5%, probably the final stage in an extraordinarily swift downhill journey from 5% in early October.
Not content with that, the Bank of England crossed the frontier by announcing the start of “quantitative easing”.
Mar 5th 2009
From The Economist print edition
The Bank of England acts to boost the money supply
JUST as the supposedly improbable keeps on happening to banks in the financial crisis, so Britain’s economic managers are finding themselves adopting policies they never dreamed would be necessary. The savage downturn induced by the credit crunch has brought the Treasury centre stage, as it throws billions at banks and revives the lost art of active fiscal policy. The Bank of England, for its part, is breaking ever more unconventional ground.
On March 5th the central bank advanced to the frontier of orthodox monetary policy, lowering once again the interest rate it pays on the balances that commercial banks hold with it as liquid reserves. The half-point reduction brought the base rate down to 0.5%, probably the final stage in an extraordinarily swift downhill journey from 5% in early October.
Not content with that, the Bank of England crossed the frontier by announcing the start of “quantitative easing”.
What is quantitative easing?
Link to the article: Channel 4
Last Modified: 06 Mar 2009
By: Channel 4 News
As the Bank of England considers embarking on quantitative easing, Channel 4 News online explains what it means.
Q: What is quantitative easing?
A: QE aims to increase the amount of money in the economy. The Bank of England (BoE) is doing this by buying up assets, in particular commercial bonds. Since the onset of the credit crunch, banks worried about the strength of their finances have tightened up lending dramatically, so this is an attempt to kick-start the process.
At its most simple level, this new money will be used to buy debts - for example from banks - so they've in theory more money to lend again, or to tidy up their balance sheet. The principle aim of this experiment is to lower interest rates for consumers and companies.
Last Modified: 06 Mar 2009
By: Channel 4 News
As the Bank of England considers embarking on quantitative easing, Channel 4 News online explains what it means.
Q: What is quantitative easing?
A: QE aims to increase the amount of money in the economy. The Bank of England (BoE) is doing this by buying up assets, in particular commercial bonds. Since the onset of the credit crunch, banks worried about the strength of their finances have tightened up lending dramatically, so this is an attempt to kick-start the process.
At its most simple level, this new money will be used to buy debts - for example from banks - so they've in theory more money to lend again, or to tidy up their balance sheet. The principle aim of this experiment is to lower interest rates for consumers and companies.
Rates go lower as cash pumped in
Link to the article: Channel 4
Last Modified: 05 Mar 2009
By: Faisal Islam
The Bank of England embarks on an economic policy that has never been tried in Britain: quantitative easing.
The term is obscure, but the implications are massive.
The bank will flood the banking system with cash, pumping in £75bn, but that sum could be doubled if the economy fails to respond.
At the same time the bank also chopped interest rates by half a per cent to just 0.5 per cent, an all-time low.
Last Modified: 05 Mar 2009
By: Faisal Islam
The Bank of England embarks on an economic policy that has never been tried in Britain: quantitative easing.
The term is obscure, but the implications are massive.
The bank will flood the banking system with cash, pumping in £75bn, but that sum could be doubled if the economy fails to respond.
At the same time the bank also chopped interest rates by half a per cent to just 0.5 per cent, an all-time low.
Bank to pump £75bn into economy
Link to the article: Channel 4
Last Modified: 05 Mar 2009
By: Channel 4 News
The Bank of England slashes interest rates to another all-time low as it starts 'quantitative easing' in a bid to pull the economy out of recession.
The bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cut interest rates to 0.5 per cent - the sixth month in a row that rates have fallen.
The Bank of England also said it would create £75bn in new money over the next three months under a new quantitative easing strategy.
Under quantitative easing, the bank will create money to buy government and corporate bonds through its Asset Purchase Facility, but the success of the policy depends on how far struggling banks will pass on the extra funds.
Last Modified: 05 Mar 2009
By: Channel 4 News
The Bank of England slashes interest rates to another all-time low as it starts 'quantitative easing' in a bid to pull the economy out of recession.
The bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cut interest rates to 0.5 per cent - the sixth month in a row that rates have fallen.
The Bank of England also said it would create £75bn in new money over the next three months under a new quantitative easing strategy.
Under quantitative easing, the bank will create money to buy government and corporate bonds through its Asset Purchase Facility, but the success of the policy depends on how far struggling banks will pass on the extra funds.
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Islamic banks 'better in crisis'
Link to the full article: BBC
By Lucy Williamson
BBC News, Jakarta
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on Islamic banks to take a leadership role in the global economy, amid the financial crisis.
He was speaking at the opening of the World Islamic Economic Forum in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
The forum has brought together political and business leaders from 38 countries to discuss the global economic slowdown.
They will also discuss ways to achieve energy and food security.
Mr Yudhoyono said it was time for Islamic banks to do some missionary work in the West.
Islamic financial institutions, he said, had not been hit as hard as their western counterparts because they did not invest in toxic assets.
Banks run in accordance with Muslims laws on interest payments and the sharing of credit risks are seen by many as fairer than traditional banks, less focused on profit and kinder to the communities they work in.
By Lucy Williamson
BBC News, Jakarta
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on Islamic banks to take a leadership role in the global economy, amid the financial crisis.
He was speaking at the opening of the World Islamic Economic Forum in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
The forum has brought together political and business leaders from 38 countries to discuss the global economic slowdown.
They will also discuss ways to achieve energy and food security.
Mr Yudhoyono said it was time for Islamic banks to do some missionary work in the West.
Islamic financial institutions, he said, had not been hit as hard as their western counterparts because they did not invest in toxic assets.
Banks run in accordance with Muslims laws on interest payments and the sharing of credit risks are seen by many as fairer than traditional banks, less focused on profit and kinder to the communities they work in.
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