Carnage on the High Street
In this episode, I’m talking about the impact of fairly dire retail conditions on the High Street, and what this could mean for commercial property investors.
I also look at the consequences of ‘fake news’ on our financial decision making, and whether social media networks could do more to address the spread of dangerous misinformation.
Personal finance news
-Higher levels of protection now cover victims of banking scams if they are tricked into transferring money to fraudsters. Around 84,000 banking customers have lost money to the transfer scams, with banks refunding cash in only a small number of these cases.
-Borrowers with persistent credit card debts are being warned not to ignore letters encouraging them to make more than the minimum payments on balances. New rules from the Financial Conduct Authority will mean many more people will now get a letter in the post from their credit card provider, encouraging them to make faster repayments.
-The proportion of workers in Britain receiving low-pay has fallen to its smallest amount since 1980. According to the Resolution Foundation think tank, young adults, in particular, have benefited from this fall in the proportion of low-paid workers.
-Citizens Advice has claimed regulatory failure has led to consumers being overcharged £24.1 billion in the past fifteen years for water, energy, broadband and telephone services. They are calling on providers to return some of this money to customers through a rebate on bills, and for regulators to prevent it from happening again.
-The Tax Justice Network has flagged up Jersey as the seventh most “aggressive” corporate tax haven in the world. It scored tax havens based on 20 different factors, with both Jersey and Guernsey scoring 98 out of a possible 100 points.
Useful links
Retail crisis set to wipe billions off value of landlords’ portfolios
Cient Catching Podcast with Adam King
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