Patrick Hosking

Business

The business - Patrick Hosking argues Brown is right on pensions

• 01 December 2003

Tax relief on pension savings is meant to encourage middle earners to set aside enough so that they won't be a burden on the state, not to give the very rich another way to avoid tax

The business - Patrick Hosking hopes John Prescott gets gazumped

• 24 November 2003

Prescott proposes to make it compulsory for house sellers to get their own surveys done. But what buyer will believe a report that the vendor has paid for? Asks Parick Hosking

Business

The business - Patrick Hosking thinks we live beyond our means

• 17 November 2003

The country is living beyond its means, but nobody makes a fuss. We have just recorded the worst monthly trade deficit ever and the stock market barely blinked

Business

The business - Patrick Hosking hears some mortage whoppers

• 10 November 2003

The Bank of England has a hopelessly rationalist view of human nature. Investment markets (and, boy, is property seen as an investment now) just don't work like that

Business

The business - Patrick Hosking sheds no tears for Michael Green

• 27 October 2003

Carlton's Michael Green deserved to be ditched. Not because he made bad TV, but because he was a bad capitalist: £1,000 invested in his company 15 years ago is now worth £1,046

Business

The business - Patrick Hosking reports plans for a PO credit card

• 20 October 2003

When bailiffs are already chasing £5bn in debts, it seems odd for the Royal Mail, an arm of the state, to launch yet another credit card. Nevertheless, we should wish it well

The business - Patrick Hosking on lies, damn lies and statistics

• 13 October 2003

So growth is twice as high as forecast earlier this year. But this is not the first time that official statisticians have got it wrong. Conspiracy or cock-up?

The business - Patrick Hosking

• 06 October 2003

How fortunate for Rupert Murdoch to have Lord St John of Fawsley as senior non-executive director of BSkyB. He believes in the principle of heredity

The business - Patrick Hosking on Gordon Brown's grisly choice

• 29 September 2003

Since income tax rises are ruled out by manifesto promises, Gordon Brown faces a grisly choice: a tax on jobs or a tax on the poor. Anything else would bring in peanuts

The business - Patrick Hosking reveals who pays for cheap flights

• 22 September 2003

If you've been wondering who foots the bill for the absurdly cheap flights to new European destinations, stop now. It's you, the taxpayer. But the subsidies are coming under scrutiny