Declines in health and education in poor countries ‘harming earning potential’

Deteriorating health, education and training in many developing countries is dramatically depressing the future earnings of children born today, the World Bank has said.In a report, the World Bank urges policymakers to focus on improving outcomes in three settings: homes, neighbourhoods and workplaces.The report, Building Human Capital Where it Matters, finds that in 86 of 129 low- and middle-income countries health, education, or workplace learning declined between 2010 and 2025.Analysing the links with earnings, the World Bank says children born today in low- and middle-income countries could earn 51% more through their lifetime if their country’s human capital matched that of the best-performing nations at similar income levels.Mamta Murthi, its vice-president for people, said: “The prosperity of low- and middle-income countries depends on their ability to build and protect human capital

UK GDP: Chancellor Rachel Reeves predicts ‘stronger growth this year’ after UK economy ends 2025 ‘in the slow lane’ – business live

Reaction to the news that the UK grew by just 0.1% in the final quarter of 2025 (see earlier post) is rolling in, and City experts aren’t impressed.Lindsay James, investment strategist at wealth managers Quilter, warns that the picture is ‘rather bleak at the moment’.“A long list of data revisions from the ONS has revealed the UK economy barely kept its head above water in the final quarter of last year, with GDP growth coming in at just 0.1% after downward revisions to the previous two data prints

Ratcliffe says immigrants cost too much, while Ineos lobbies for state funding

The backlash against Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comments about immigrants to the UK “costing too much” for the state comes at an awkward time for his loss-making Ineos business.The billionaire industrialist’s sprawling empire, which ranges from chemicals to car making, has sought government financial support worth hundreds of millions of pounds and is lobbying for further state aid from the UK and EU to stay afloat.Britain’s seventh-richest man provoked outrage by accusing immigrants of “colonising” Britain and implying that people on benefits were an unaffordable drain on public funds.But Ratcliffe, who has also described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world”, has in recent years laid claim to state support through grants and loan guarantees worth about €800m from UK and EU governments to help his refineries and chemicals plants during an extended downturn for the industry.Ratcliffe told Sky News: “You can’t have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in

Ex-Barclays boss Jes Staley was trustee of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate until 2015, files say

The former Barclays boss Jes Staley was named as a trustee of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate until at least May 2015, according to documents that appear to contradict court testimony given by the banker.This month the Guardian revealed that US prosecutors had reviewed allegations of rape and bodily harm against Staley, who denies any wrongdoing. He has never been charged with a crime related to the allegations.On Thursday, documents emerged that raised questions over whether Staley gave inaccurate evidence in court last year about the nature of his ties to the late convicted sex offender Epstein.Staley’s signature appears on a copy of the Jeffrey E Epstein 2014 Trust, dated November 2014, where he is named as one of three trustees

Schroders agrees £9.9bn takeover by US investor, ending 200 years of family ownership

Schroders has agreed a £9.9bn takeover by a US investor, ending two centuries of family ownership of the historic British asset management group.Chicago-based Nuveen will buy the City firm, it said on Thursday, in a deal that will create one of the world’s biggest fund managers, controlling about $2.5tn (£1.8tn) of assets

UK economy limps along at 0.1% growth – but there are reasons for optimism in 2026

Rachel Reeves has suggested 2026 is the year Labour can start to deliver on its economic promises; but 0.1% GDP growth in the final quarter of last year is hardly the springboard she was hoping for.In the supportive message on X she sent on Monday as Keir Starmer’s future appeared under threat, the chancellor claimed “the conditions for the economy to grow are there”.But the latest data, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), suggests that despite six interest rate cuts from the Bank of England since mid-2024, consumers and businesses are not yet taking the hint.Output from the key services sector was flat over the final quarter of the year, the ONS said, with construction – crucial to Labour’s ambitious housebuilding targets – declining by 2