The Catastrophe Effect of Carillion's Collapse

In terms of the Bank of England's view on effects of the Carillion liquidation on the supply chain, the key phrase is 'so far'. Carillion had 11,600 direct sub-contractors (and once you take account of their sub-contractors & suppliers then 25,000 firms will be affected)... pic.twitter.com/XwXlDlyEhV

— Noble Francis (@NobleFrancis) March 28, 2018

The beating of a butterfly's wings......

Facebook's Fucked!

ZeroHedge reports that Facebook advertisers have threatened to abandon the platform in the wake of a massive data harvesting scandal which began after it was revealed that an app created by two psychologists - one of whom Facebook employs - gathered data on over 50 million Americans and then sold it to political data firm Cambridge Analytics and several others, who used it without consent.


The scandal is pushing some Facebook advertisers to consider dropping the platform, reports The Times. 

ISBA, a British group of advertisers that spend hundreds of millions of pounds a year on Facebook, demanded answers. It is understood that some of its 3,000 brands, which include those of the consumer goods companies Unilever and P&G, will not tolerate association with Facebook if it emerges that users’ data has found its way into the hands of brokers and political campaigners without authorisation. Sources close to the trade body said that if the company’s answers were not satisfactory, advertisers might spend their money elsewhere. ISBA will meet Facebook executives this week.

Others, such as Mozilla, have already pulled out, or as it said have "pressed pause" on Facebook advertising.

In a scathing post, Mozilla said that "when Facebook takes stronger action in how it shares customer data, specifically strengthening its default privacy settings for third party apps, we’ll consider returning." Until then, "Mozilla will advertise elsewhere".

Facebook stock currently trades at around $169, down from $183 five days ago.

CPIH Inflation Falls To 2.5%

The ONS reports that CPIH has fallen to 2.5% and CPI has fallen to 2.7%:

• The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) 12-month inflation rate was 2.5% in February 2018, down from 2.7% in January 2018.
• The largest downward contributions to the change in the rate came from transport and food prices, which rose by less than a year ago.
• Falling prices for accommodation services also had a downward effect.
• Rising prices for footwear produced the largest, partially offsetting, upward contribution.
• The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 12-month rate was 2.7% in February 2018, down from 3.0% in January 2018.

Hammond To Make Spring Statement

Hammond will unveil the latest economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility in a brief 15-minute statement to MPs at 12:30 GMT.

He is set to unveil consultations on a single-use plastics tax and a possible tax on the profits of digital giants like Facebook and Google.

He is expected to reveal that tax receipts are covering day-to-day government spending for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis.

There will be no policy announcements or tax and spending measures - they will be held back to the Budget in the autumn - and no photocall outside 11 Downing Street with the chancellor's red box.

I am forced to ask, what is the fucking point of this then?

Financial Ombudsman Service Gets a Well Deserved Kicking From Dispatches

Tonght's @Channel4@C4Dispatches finds shocking failings at the Financial Ombudsman Service. I was astonished to see what they found - customers complaints must be taken seriously!

— Ros Altmann (@rosaltmann) March 12, 2018

Must watch this prog tonight. Have you ever complained about a bank and been turned down by the Financial Ombudsman? You may find out why! pic.twitter.com/p5Qd6Z0G3g

— Ros Altmann (@rosaltmann) March 12, 2018

Full Marks To Tesco For Its Detailed Product Description

...that’s very specific 😳 pic.twitter.com/kwoCx2Tu51

— John Donoghue (@JohnDonoghue64) March 7, 2018

Theresa May Demonstrates a Frightening Ignorance of Economics and The Private Sector

In May’s speech tomorrow she’ll observe that “the bonuses paid to the heads of some of our biggest developers are based not on the number of homes they build but on their profits or share price...that creates a perverse incentive.”

This is literally how free markets work.

— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) March 4, 2018

Let The Trade Wars Commence!

When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2018

EU COMMISSION SPOKESMAN WINTERSTEIN BRIEFS PRESS IN BRUSSELS
EU SAYS HAS COUNTER-MEASURES READY AGAINST U.S. TARIFFS
EU SAYS STANDS READY TO RESPOND

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 2, 2018

CHINA MAY TAKE MEASURES TO PROTECT OWN INTERESTS: MOFCOM

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 2, 2018

Equifax - What's Another 2.4M Between Friends?

Equifax finds additional 2.4 million impacted by 2017 breach #databreach #cybersecurity https://t.co/fy07R61wKZ

— Miguel A Menendez (@menendezjaume) March 2, 2018

All in all, Equifax really fucked up on this by so many measures!