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Last week Republican strategist and author Michael Patrick Leahy guest posted on this blog, announcing the upcoming Nationwide Chicago Tea Parties. Well, they’ve arrived!

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Source: Business Listings

While questioning the Chancellor on the Today programme this morning about Sir Fred Goodwin’s £650,000 annual pension, Evan Davis made a throw-away remark about setting up a truth and reconciliation commission for the banking crisis.

I wonder whether the time has indeed…

Source: Business Listings

Another day, another bank pledge to lend more money to businesses.

But Royal Bank of Scotland’s commitment today to channel an additional £16bn to large and small companies this year could mark a turning point.

Firstly, the sums involved are enormous. The bank had already planned to increase its business lending this year, following last year’s 10pc rise in net new lending to £14.6bn. Add another £16bn on top and this is meaningful sums of money.

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Source: Business Listings

The Bank of England’s David “Danny” Blanchflower has become famous over the past year or so for being the “one who saw it coming”. He was the one member of the Monetary Policy Committee who both identified the scale and severity of the recession well before it hit and tried to do something about it, by voting repeatedly for lower interest rates at meeting after meeting.

However, he is, at heart, a world-leading expert on the labour market, and so it is worth a detailed look at his …

Source: Business Listings

I flew Ryanair recently. It was hell. The check-in procedure was like nothing I’d ever experienced before, carefully designed to overcharge and punish those of us who aren’t used to flying budget airlines and don’t know the drill.

I hadn’t checked…

Source: Business Listings

Singapore’s CapitaLand, which is the biggest shopping centre owner in Southeast Asia, is paying out S$1m (£450,000) worth of staff bonuses in shopping vouchers redeemable at its malls.

The move is designed to give a boost to CapitaLand’s retail tenants, many of whom have seen sales fall sharply, as well as helping the wider economy…

Source: Business Listings

Everyone’s gossiping about possible revelations in ITV’s results next week. A rights issue? A cancelled dividend? Disposals? We think the the clue is the title of an event hosted by Thinkbox, the marketing agency, where ITV executives are talking on the subject of ‘TV On a Shoestring’.

Source: Business Listings

Virgin Media is intensifying its battle with other broadband providers by upgrading its customers with 2Mb bandwidth to 10Mb free of charge. The purpose of this generous gesture? Apart from selflessly doing away with the cheapest category of its broadband offerings for new users, Virgin does also make Lord Carter’s promise that every family in Britain will have 2Mb by 2012 look rather last-month.

Source: Business Listings

Rumours are growing that Universal is close to signing a deal for Mamma Mia! 2, an Abba-themed sequel to the most successful film ever at the UK box office. The movie made Universal £69.05m in Britain alone. Meryl Streep has blurted out her desire to work on a second film based on the musical, but could Universal double its takings if Pierce Brosnan promises he won’t?

Source: Business Listings

Those rebellious days when Jarvis Cocker could bare his behind at the Brit Awards are long gone. Now organisers rein in celebrity antics at the music industry’s prestigious ceremony by refusing to sell any more drinks after the TV cameras start rolling.
Last week’s ceremony was even more circumscribed. Dubbed the Budget Awards by certain guests, one reception party offered sparkling wine that looked more like teenage bus stop plonk than Bollinger Brut - before running out of drinks a…

Source: Business Listings