Just as during the Cuban Missile crisis of 50 years ago, the world is watching anxiously as the politicians in Washington try to prevent the US economy from plunging off the fiscal cliff. The stakes could never be as high as they were when Khrushchev and Kennedy were on the hot line in October 1962, but there would be serious consequences were the talks between President Obama and John Boehner, the leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives to end in failure. George Osborne is just one of the finance ministers keen to see the impasse ended. The latest news from the UK economy was disappointing, even if ... (full story)