Simon Jack

@Whole_wit This is NOT me

info.lerainew.info/global-news/gl… Is this genuine? I enjoy Simon Jack's business reporting on BBC R4's Today prog. It might be a fake but it IS known that Ai CAN help with stock analysis. Can EVERYONE win: Ponzi? @BBCSimonJack Is this genuine or has your name & character been 'adopted'?🤔

@Whole_wit This is not me. Investigating.

Thank you @BBCSimonJack for allowing me to speak to BBC about my experience as trader at Lehman Brothers. It was surreal standing outside the old Lehman Europe HQ in Canary Wharf and recounting the stories of the days/weeks leading up their collapse in September 2008. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Are we in the foothills of another financial crisis? My take here. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Interview with financial stability chief at Bank of England Sarah Breeden with the echoes of 2007/8 she sees in markets today - and the differences. bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0…

The Fed has two jobs. Keep inflation under control and support the fullest possible level of employment in the US economy. The arrival of AI could change both those jobs according to Donald Trump's pick for the next chair of the Fed Kevin Warsh. Mr Warsh told senators that productivity gains from AI could be "so consequential" that it would allow growth to be higher without stoking inflation while at the same time it would present changes to the job market. Mr Warsh said that the Fed needed to "change its models" #warsh

Are you going to be the President's sock puppet? That was the question asked by Republican Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana - echoing others on a Senate Committee grilling Donald Trump's pick to be the chair of the world's most important financial institution the Federal Reserve. Questions on Mr Warsh's independence have dominated the first hour of the hearing with both Democrats and Republicans quoting remark's by the President that he "wouldn't appoint anyone who wasn't going to lower interest rates". Mr Warsh denied that he had "made a deal" with Donald Trump to lower rates if approved. Inflation has been above the Fed's target for several years but Kevin Warsh told the committee he had low confidence in traditional measures of inflation - signalling that inflation being above target would not be a barrier to lowering rates.

It’s actually pretty complicated. Every mechanism for breaking the link has some drawbacks. All of them would prob result in more gas in the system for longer. Thoughts here. Perhaps the most consequential announcement to come out of the Chancellor's IMF visit was her determination to lower energy bills for consumers by breaking the link between the prices of gas and electricity.  The UK's current energy pricing model means that the last unit of electricity added to the grid so that supply and demand match at any given time sets the price for the whole market.  More often than not, that last bit of supply comes from gas fired power stations - meaning that when gas prices are high, like now, energy prices across the board are high even though large amounts of it are being generated more cheaply by wind and solar.  Cutting this link is not easy as gas is still the fall back option which underpins the whole systems resilience. It can be scaled up or down easily, it works when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow.  During the last energy crisis in 2022, Spain operated a mechanism that capped gas prices for the purpose of calculating electricity prices and paid gas generators a subsidy to make up the difference between the cp and the real price.  IIt lowered electricity prices by 20-30% but it came at a cost of a government subsidy to the gas providers so they didn't exit the market leaving the system vulnerable.  That subsidy was recouped with levies on bill payers. So the cost of gas wasn't removed from the system - it was subsidised.  This had the effect of actually increasing gas usage. Also, Spain uses hardly any gas compared to the UK, so the cost of subsidies would be much higher in the UK.  There are alternative systems. For example you could offer gas producers a guaranteed price - as happens in the renewable sector -when the price of gas is above a certain level, the gas producers pay money back to the government - and when it is below, the government pays money to the gas producers.  That would however, would have the effect of locking in gas prices, and gas supplies for many years.  Greenpeace and consultancy Stonehaven have proposed another solution which would see gas separated into a "strategic reserve" to be used at discretion of the system operator and paying gas producers a fixed amount.  Critics say that it would see hefty legal challenge and sctually embed gas in the energy system for far longer as there would be little incentive to develop more flexible solutions like battery storage and greater electricity connectivity across Europe.  The Chancellor has admitted this is "a complex area" and is looking for "pragmatic ways" to approach it. Industry leaders have told the BBC that they are not clear as what the government plans are but one said "this is the most serious I've seen them".  Serious enough to knock hundreds of millions off the value of companies like SSE and Centrica which still operate some of the older renewable generation that make a lot more money when the gas price lifts the price of the energy they supply at much lower cost to the grid.

@ForexNorthStar As we have reported

FT - at last - reports that R Reeves will finally stop the system that allows (expensive and dirty) gas to set the price electricity - allowing renewables (cheap and clean) to influence price . Why has this taken so long?

@Davidjft97 Lovely pictures. My schoolmate Simon Bell died that day. We opened the batting together for school cricket team. Can see his face v vividly - age 17. Still cant quite believe it all these years later.

My Dad died at Hillsborough, he loved watching the reds, a nice man. He drove a taxi, a lorry, & was a salesman. A Dad of 2. A good Dad, took me the match. They took my Dad from me. They took me too. I hate April. I hate what it’s done to me. I miss you Dad. #lfc #ynwa #JFT97

Thames Water should be allowed to fail rather than "sleepwalk" into bad deal for customers says spurned investor who would like to buy it out of administration. Getting towards crunch time for this debt ridden utility bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Tonight’s ten. Featuring a piece from me on why yesterday’s market euphoria has worn off. youtu.be/ZPaW31313IA

I joined @BBCWorldatOne to discuss with @BBCSimonJack, Dame DeAnne Julius and Stephen Moore the severity of this economic shock, recession risks, rates and stagflation. Listen 👇 (29:10-40:45) (1/3) bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

@dgbailey Very sorry to hear that David. Sounds like an amazing much loved person. Best to you and family.

With a heavy heart, I share the obituary of my beloved wife, Lisa, written by our great friend Phil Tomlinson. I hope you’ll take a moment to read & remember a truly extraordinary woman who meant everything to Mikey and myself, & so much to so many others. regionalstudies.org/news/lisa-de-p…

@elonmusk how much copper will you need to build 1 billion robots. Genuine question.

BlackRock ceo says there are 2 binary outcomes. Either unsanctioned oil from reintegrated peaceful Iran sees cheap abundant energy flow from gulf or it doesn’t - with grave implications for world economy. Plus fewer people should go to university in AI age bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Listen here to my exclusive interview with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink BBC News - Big Boss Interview bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01…

@JournalistJill I didn’t know it was a book so I see they had to be faithful.

@BBCSimonJack That’s how the book ends. It was silly but I liked it.

Hail Mary Project. What a weird film. One of the most bizarre endings I’ve ever seen capped a strange mix of two different films - both pretty awful. And yet Ryan Gosling managed somehow to rise above it all and deliver a really likeable performance. How the team behind this film thought that was the right ending is beyond me.

@BenZaranko Huge loss to IFS and a great hire by Observer. Looking forward to reading your stuff.

Some personal/professional news: today is my last day at the IFS. There’s nowhere else I’d rather have spent the last nine years and leaving is such a wrench. But it’s time for something new, and I’m excited to be joining The Observer as Economics Editor from 7 April.