Crackdown on tax evasion in attempt to help poorer countries | Business | The Guardian . Large companies should reveal how much of their profits they pay in tax to developing nations to show they comply with local corporation tax regimes, Stephen Timms, the Treasury minister, will say tomorrow as part of a three-pronged effort
Read the Rest…

Unequal Britain: richest 10% are now 100 times better off than the poorest | Society | guardian.co.uk . A detailed and startling analysis of how unequal Britain has become offers a snapshot of an increasingly divided nation where the richest 10% of the population are more than 100 times as wealthy as the poorest 10%
Read the Rest…

FT.com / Columnists / Martin Wolf – Volcker’s axe is not enough to cut banks to size. Martin Wolf thinks Obama and Volcker have taken a step in the right direction. He says: I admire Mr Volcker and strongly support his desire to develop a financial sector that supports the wider economy, rather than makes
Read the Rest…

FT.com / Comment / Opinion – Obama needs to perform a U-turn. Good commentary in the FT. I agree with its three core arguments: 1) Obama has to be true to the convictions of those on the left who drove him to power 2) He has to treat the Republicans like the small minded people
Read the Rest…

Aid agencies worldwide are responding to the crisis in Haiti. It’s typical of Christian Aid that it is looking beyond the immediate crisis and addressing the underlying issues that have helped create the crisis that country faces. As a result it is calling for full cancellation of Haiti’s debt of $890m, and for all emergency
Read the Rest…

FT.com / Capital Markets – Investors flock to Greek bond issue. OK, the return is higher than that due on German bonds. But Greece has sold a third of its annual funding requirement with the issue four times over-bid. Greece is in much worse state than the UK. Shall we stop all the nonsense that
Read the Rest…

Banking reforms only half the solution: global economic imbalance needs to be addressed | Business | guardian.co.uk . Larry Elliott’s pessimistic today: In theory, the solution [to global trade imbalances] is simple. China should accept a significant upward revaluation of the renminbi, making its exports significantly dearer. It should put in place a more generous
Read the Rest…

Lord Myners calls time on ‘greed is good’ bank culture | Business | The Guardian . The Guardian reports: Lord Myners, the City minister, has called for an independent review of the investment banking industry and the “greed is good” culture that he says has permeated many areas of society. Which is great. But I
Read the Rest…

A young hamster doubles its weight each week between birth and puberty. But if it grew at the same rate until its first birthday, we’d be looking at a nine billion tonne hamster, which ate more than a year’s worth of world maize production every day. There are good reasons why things don’t grow indefinitely.
Read the Rest…