Business Comment

David Prosser: A lending scandal of the Chancellor's own making

Outlook: Have you ever tried controlling a gang of naughty toddlers intent on going their own way whatever the threatened punishment? Then you probably have some inkling of how Alistair Darling feels about Britain's biggest banks right now. They've had some delicious lollipops in the form of a massive state bailout, but that wasn't enough to get them lending again.

Inside Business Comment

David Prosser: Don't forget those about to fall off the ladder

Saturday, 22 November 2008

Outlook: While the world wonders whether the banks will relax their lending criteria, an increasing number of those who already have mortgage finance are running into trouble. Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that there was a 12 per cent increase in repossessions during the third quarter.

David Prosser: Thank heavens the BBC Trustsaw sense

Saturday, 22 November 2008

Outlook: The BBC Trust made two big decisions yesterday. One – not to take further action against broadcaster Jonathan Ross – will no doubt be grabbing all today's headlines. But the other – that the BBC shouldn't be allowed to put a final nail in the coffin of local newspapers – is equally deserving of plenty of coverage, even if the tale is a little less strewn with heroes and villains.

Hamish McRae: Treasury's dreadful position means a long squeeze on living standards

Friday, 21 November 2008

Economic Life

David Prosser: There is no end in sight for the great retail recession

Friday, 21 November 2008

Outlook Panic over, then. Retail sales fell by only 0.1 per cent in October, according to the Office for National Statistics, far less than economists and the retail trade itself had been predicting. What on earth has the high street been moaning about these past few weeks?

David Prosser: The real housing crisis is still ahead of us

Friday, 21 November 2008

Outlook Britain is facing a housing market crisis – but not the one you've been reading about over the past year as property prices have headed south. Believe it or not, look past the sea of unsold homes cluttering up estate agents' windows and you'll discover that this country faces an acute housing shortage.

David Prosser: Regrets, they've had a few at RBS after all

Friday, 21 November 2008

Outlook He got there in the end. Finally, after months of recriminations and resignations, Sir Tom McKillop, chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, told his shareholders what they have wanted to hear for many months.

David Prosser: We're all still waiting to see those lending promises honoured

Thursday, 20 November 2008

Outlook Alistair Darling's promise that in return for handing over taxpayers' cash he would force banks to get back to the levels of lending seen in 2007 always looked something of a pipedream. It still does, despite the Prime Minister insisting yesterday that proposals are in the pipeline to force banks to do more for small businesses, at least.

David Prosser: The jams are no easier this side of the Atlantic

Thursday, 20 November 2008

Outlook While the collapse of America's largest car manufacturers continues to fascinate and appal in equal measure, relatively little attention has been paid to the dismal outlook facing the US auto giants' opposite numbers in Europe. Britain's car industry, for example, is in a desperate state, with sales down 23 per cent last month to their lowest levels since 1991.

David Prosser: Careless talk costs lives, or banks at least

Thursday, 20 November 2008

Outlook The Financial Services Authority has now set out the results of an investigation into market rumours – those nasty, and often untrue, little bits of gossip that have destabilised our leading banks this year. The watchdog has spent much of the past six months asking a wide range of City companies for their policies on rumour-spreading. But fear not: businesses from stockbrokers to hedge funds say they have strict rules in place on such naughtiness. And while the FSA has uncovered a few instances of gossiping that might have caused difficulties, it stamped on them quickly and has warned the rumour-mongers about being naive.

David Prosser: Deflation is scary. So too is a policymaker in a blind panic

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Outlook Here's a thought about the terrifying spectre of deflation now looming large if the much bigger than expected fall in inflation seen last month is a taste of things to come. It may not be so terrifying.

More business comment: