There is something special about Sunday morning, the Sunday Times, hot croissants with honey and butter, excellent.
Headlines – Argentina to disrupt the Olympics is the main headline. The FCO claims to have received intelligence the Falklands may be the target of a black power style demonstration at the games this Summer. Shocking. It was bad enough the Argentinian President tried to mug Cameron at the G20 summit.
“Just sign this” said the charming Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner handing over a petition for the repatriation of Port Stanley. The canny PM was having none of it. Never sign a petition from someone with a long name – the watch word of empire.
David Smith headlines with “bright spots amid this peculiar recession”. The economics new this week was mixed but it’s a bit soon for bright spots and green shoots. The mood nevertheless, a sharp contrast to the Governor’s speech at the Mansion House. Black Clouds featured six times in the twenty minute speech. Evidence of clinical depression rather than an objective overview of the UK economy perhaps but bright spots on black clouds becomes my headline of the week.
Economics news this week, inflation falls, unemployment sends mixed signals and retail sales rally in May. The MPC minutes suggest more QE is on the way. Inflation CPI basis fell to 2.8% down from 3% prior month. Unemployment claimant count basis increased slightly by 8,000 and retail sales volumes rallied with a modest 2.4% growth. The minutes of the MPC meeting confirmed another dose of QE could be on the way as early as July. The committee voted against this month by a narrow 5-4 margin.
Check out the Saturday Economist for more economics and the latest discussion papers. Now also available as a Prezi on line. See how the panel voted with the MPC graphic.
This week, The Corporate Strategist had a look at the New Microsoft Surface™. Styled like a deck chair and looking like a Zune, the iPad me too is further proof every business should have a product champion. The launch is a great way to alienate a client base. With Dell, HP, Acer and Lenovo pushed to one side as MS goes vertical.
Back to the day job, Monday, team meeting in the morning followed by more work on social media research ahead of the conference in July.
Tuesday, meeting with Mindy Gofton, search specialist at i-Com and pretty up to date on all things social media. We have a long discussion about the mechanics and prospects of Google+. Yes it is the coming thing with Hitwise suggesting 400 million users could be encircled by the end of the year as Facebook befriends a billion users.
Wednesday, PM Angelique Meyer, is in the office. Angelique is the Chief Managing Director of the Netherlands Business Support Office (NBSO) Manchester. I didn’t know they had one here in the city but there are some great opportunities for mutual business in many sectors in Manchester.
Thursday, big day in the pro.manchester calendar, board meeting in the morning, the Annual General Meeting and the AGM lunch. Paul Lupton vacates the chair and hands over to Paul Johnson from Cobbetts. It has been great working with Paul Lupton over the past twelve months and we look forward to working with the new Chairman in the year ahead.
Friday, breakfast session with the Greater Manchester Economic Advisory Group chaired by Jim O’Neill and on this occasion Diane Coyle from Enlightenment Economics. The Greater Manchester Growth Plan is under discussion before members from the GM LEP and the Business Leadership Council. Sir Richard and Sir Howard are present – a measure of the importance of the panel and the plan. The event is hosted by Mike Emmerich and Baron Frankal from New Economy. Good session.
Saturday, working in the morning, the day starts as usual with tea, the FT, and the Economist app. The Economist leads with Egypt is in Peril with a focus on the power struggle between the generals and Islam. As for Euroland, the Economist suggests last week’s result offers relief but little hope as the Germans remain reluctant to offer more help to the Greeks. Presumably saving up for the Italians and the Spanish.
In the afternoon, tennis, it is a win 7-5.
Hope all is well, more news next week, John
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