We live in an era where central bankers have taken centre stage in economic policy. There has been a clear shift as elected politicians have stepped back and unelected technocrats have picked up many of the reins. Some of this is not a little incestuous, as politicians spending promises benefit from the QE bond buying […]
Nearly 40 years ago, I was researching the life and work of a relative, the Victorian novelist Mary Linskill; daughter of a Whitby jet worker and jailer. To do that properly I had to become a member of the Whitby and District Literary and Philosophical Society, which gave me access to Mary’s handwritten diaries in […]
I am an orphan, which is not so unusual for a man of 79, and like everyone else I know, I work out of my own home. At the moment I’m sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of Cheerios beside the laptop and a cup of coffee (black). I have no office anymore. […]
Buying a football club can still be lucrative – with the right business tactics. Many Newcastle United fans cheered the announcement on 7 October that their club had finally been sold for £305m. The sale, to a consortium headed up by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, adds to a long list of clubs bought by the mega-rich, […]
Industrial/residential is the new office/retail. In 1991, 37% of the UK institutional property market measured by IPD was retail; by 2001 this had risen to over 45%. In 1991, over 47% of that universe was offices; by 2001 this had fallen to 38%. The two asset classes combined constituted a massive 85% of the market. Industrial […]
Originally published August 2021. Virtually the entire Chinese economy, especially sectors with heavy investment inflows, such as technology, social media and private education, is in a state of flux. Foreign investors are pulling their positions, Chinese CEOs are under strict scrutiny and stocks are in a free fall as Chinese regulators continue to unleash a […]
In a housing crisis, that just doesn’t add up. When I first moved to New Zealand – even after living in some of the highest-priced US property markets – I was taken aback by house prices. My shock was reinforced by the condition of the houses, many of which lack sufficient insulation, adequate heating or […]
FTSE ST Real Estate Investment Trusts (FTSE ST REIT Index) decreased slightly from 876.88 to 842.13 (-3.96%) compared to the last month update. Currently the Singapore REIT index is still trading with a range between 816 and 890. Yield spread (in reference to the 10-year Singapore government bond of 1.57% as of 2nd October 2021) widened […]
Imagining the ultimate scorecard. Kipling, R. Galsworthy, J. Eliot, T. Russell, B. Churchill, W. [Capt] Golding, W. Pinter, H. Lessing, D. Naipaul, V. Ishiguro, K. Dylan, R. In this summer sun’s season of cricket and unmown lawns, large novels and sleepy deckchairs, what better than a musing on some of literature’s greats coupled with the […]
The virus will cast a far-reaching shadow. As we cross the 18-month mark of the pandemic, we are arguably reaching the point that the descriptor endemic may be a more appropriate term to employ. This is not meant to downgrade the ongoing seriousness of the medical situation, but it seems increasingly likely that the prevalence […]
