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By Abid Ali in Business on February 6th, 2010
Photo by AFP

Does it matter how low the president of Toyota bows down? Apparently - Akio Toyoda didn't show enough contrition because he wasn't bowing deep enough. 

By Teymoor Nabili in Business on January 31st, 2010

As anticipated, the fourth quarter growth of the US economy has prompted fresh optimism about the strength of the US recovery.

For some breakdown, here's John Mauldin:

By Teymoor Nabili in Business on January 27th, 2010
Photo by EPA

Maybe Barack Obama's eyes have, indeed, suddenly been opened to the need for reform of the financial sector.

But while he deliberates over the issue, the bankers continue to  present a solid front.

Bob Diamond, the president of Barclays, is the latest to warn of the dire consequences that must surely follow should his bonus sink to below the amount necessary to help him keep the makers of luxury yachts in work.

Diamond, warned today that Obama's plans to limit the size of banks would hit jobs, growth and global trade.

By Tania Page in Business on January 27th, 2010

The World Economic Forum has opened in Davos, Switzerland. The five-day conference will see 2,500 people meeting to discuss a range of issues including global economic recovery, unemployment and the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.

By Teymoor Nabili in Business on January 23rd, 2010
Photo from AFP

"New Bank Rules Sink Stocks"

declares the headline in The Wall Street Journal, and who would dare question that august publication when it adds "Obama Proposal Would Restrict Risk-Taking by Biggest Firms as Battle Looms".

Well, here's one scrappy little contrarian who believes that 

"China, Not Obama, Sinks Stocks"  

This one appears in the ... The Wall Street Journal.

What's going on here?

Well firstly, it's worth pointing out that this little dance is not confined to The Journal, or to this particular situation. 

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By Teymoor Nabili in Business on January 18th, 2010
Photo by EPA

If Goldman Sachs economists are correct, forthcoming data on fourth quarter economic growth in the US will show an unexpectedly large uptick.

The financial media will, of course, leap on the top-line figure and declare that happy days are here again.

Not so fast, say more sober voices.

By Teymoor Nabili in Business on January 9th, 2010

A year after the financial meltdown, Mother Jones magazine has put together a series of articles on the history, impact and consequences of the event, and it's sobering stuff.

Blogger Kevin Drum concludes: 

A year after the biggest bailout in US history, Wall Street lobbyists don't just have influence in Washington. They own it lock, stock, and barrel.

And editor David Corn discovers that the public, far from reaching for the pitchforks, have been giving the bankers and the politicans an easy ride:

By Teymoor Nabili in Business on January 2nd, 2010
Photo by Reuters

The bankers' pursuit of self-interest (greed) did not lead to the well-being of society; it did not even serve their shareholders and bondholders well. It certainly did not serve homeowners who are losing their homes, workers who have lost their jobs, retirees who have seen their retirement funds vanish, or taxpayers who paid hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out the banks.[...]  Never has so much money been transferred from so many to so few.

Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz reflects on the recent global crisis (in the pages of The China Daily, of all places, not the US or business press), draws a few lessons and warns that it may not be over:

By Abid Ali in Business on December 28th, 2009
Photo by Reuters

I want to introduce you to my world. The world of Christmas viewing in the UK. "Take That Come to Town", "Take That: Backstage at the Circus" and "Take That: The Circus Live". One afternoon and evening of pop bliss - some would say.

For those of you who don't know this group comprised of five lads. Robbie Williams, who went on to solo success, and the others who split up but came back and have had something of a renaissance.

By Teymoor Nabili in Business on December 26th, 2009
Photo from EPA

The Financial Times "Person of The Year" is Lloyd Blankfein, the head of Goldman Sachs,

a tough, bright, funny (everyone remarks upon his unpretentious, wisecracking manner) financier who reoriented Goldman... [under whom] Its influence has spread throughout the world, from New York and London to Shanghai and São Paulo.

It's an interesting choice. There are many who would argue that - Blankfein's wiseracking notwithstanding - Goldman's influence around the world has been catastrophically destructive and malign at its very core, or as Rolling Stone put it:

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