The 2008 Eurovision voting map of Europe
Once again the UK has finished at the bottom end of the Eurovision voting table. Commentators of the event have partly blamed this result on what has become known as "bloc voting", where countries' voting preferences swing towards neighbouring countries. To what extent does the actual voting data support this theory? A quick analysis reveals the answer to this question, with compelling results.

Western recessions...recovery is faster than you think
Paul presented at the annual conference of the Society of Business Economists on recessions in the Western economies. He looked at data from 17 leading economies over a period of over 100 years. Most recessions, even when they are very deep, are short-lived, with two-thirds of all recessions lasting just a single year. A key reason why recessions occur is because they spread across the international network of economies. There is strong evidence to suggest that any sub-prime induced recession in America will have serious consequences elsewhere. For a full analysis view Paul’s technical paper, which he is giving as a keynote address in Warsaw later this month at the International Conference on Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents.

Volterra in the Middle East
Volterra are pleased to announce the set up of its new operations in the Middle East based in Dubai. In partnership with leading regional experts, Jasper Group, Volterra will help expand Jasper’s current services and bring its specialist expertise to the region. The partnership aims to serve private and public sector clients in financial services, economic development and planning, and real estate. Said Hirsh will lead our consultancy services in the region. Said is a native Arabic speaker and has worked with Volterra in the UK for over two years serving public and private sector clients. For more information please contact Said.

Bridget Rosewell presents at the Charities Property Forum
Bridget spoke to the Charities Property Forum about the prospects for the UK economy and the property markets in which charities invest. She pointed out how the credit crunch was still persisting, and just when conditions seem to get better, they worsen again. The rise in inflation which is now occurring adds a further twist to the tale which had not been so apparent last autumn. Then she had been more pessimistic than the average, but the average had moved down since. Now the question is whether 2009 can see a bounceback as we are all still predicting. On balance this is still the central case, but as the Governor of the Bank of England is making clear, it could be squeezed by his inability to reduce interest rates.