Financial Times - Comment 6/28

Financial Times - Comment

A foreign policy of empty slogans

David Cameron wants Britain to continue to behave like a major power, without the financial and military muscle to back it up. This gap between rhetoric and reality is becoming dangerous, writes Gideon Rachman http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/IIYJAW/6VC7TN/GKM0OI/WLUM7R/QR/h?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=28

Lessons in capitalism for the FTSE 100

The next message is that if you want to find value in natural resources you have to be willing to fish in murky waters, writes Richard Lambert http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/IIYJAW/6VC7TN/GKM0OI/ZBTW4U/QR/h?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=28

The way to save the NHS – close hospitals

Few things frightens politicians more than campaigns against closure of constituency accident and emergency or maternity units, writes Philip Stephens http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/IIYJAW/6VC7TN/GKM0OI/C57NFL/QR/h?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=28

Give Greece time to prove it can do the job

The strategy of buying time, or ‘kicking the can down the road’ as some put it, is the only rational one today, says George Papaconstantinou http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/IIYJAW/6VC7TN/GKM0OI/NSQ68D/QR/h?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=28

False European hopes of a Chinese saviour

We should expect the silk road to take a nasty turn, one that could well make it impossible to maintain stable relations, writes Jonathan Holslag http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/IIYJAW/6VC7TN/GKM0OI/S3F2VI/QR/h?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=28

Debt travails add urgency to eurocrats’ angst

A senior Brussels diplomat confided over a bottle of champagne a suspicion that Greece will eventually be forced out of the eurozone http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/IIYJAW/6VC7TN/GKM0OI/YHL45S/QR/h?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=28

Shadow spreading across international banking

As rules on regulated lenders tighten, activity and personnel are shifting into the non-bank world at an accelerating rate, writes Gillian Tett http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/IIYJAW/6VC7TN/GKM0OI/LQIGB4/QR/h?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=28

Too much talking through our hats?

These most socially sensitive of garments are back where they have so often been, in the front line of class warfare, writes Brian Groom http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/IIYJAW/6VC7TN/GKM0OI/JIDHT2/QR/h?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=28

FT.com - Markets Insight

The Fed turned economists into equity pundits

Over time, economists broadened their horizons to discuss the employment outlook, the prospects for housing, orders for durable goods, and – ultimately – the stock market http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/IIYJAW/6VC7TN/GKM0OI/FX4UPC/QR/h?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=28