Wednesday newspaper round-up: Quitting the euro, Osborne, Yahoo!

7th Sep 2011 06:05

Quitting the euro would impose horrendous costs even on a strong economy such as Germany, meaning that the single currency is far more likely to lurch towards closer integration than break apart, new research shows. Amid rising tensions on financial markets, analysts at UBS estimated that if Germany were to leave the single currency, it would cost each adult and child in the country between €6,000 and €8,000 in the first year alone, or €486bn to €648bn, writes the Times.George Osborne should drop the 50p top rate of income tax "at the earliest opportunity" to boost growth, according to 20 high-profile economists." Only by returning to an internationally competitive tax regime will Britain enjoy long-term sustainable economic growth," the economists write in a letter in Wednesday's Financial Times.George Osborne launched a spirited defence of the Government's austerity plans on Tuesday night, insisting they were Britain's only chance of sustainable recovery despite a worsening short-term outlook. The Chancellor said the Coalition had been "ahead of the curve" in its bid to reduce the bulging deficit, adding that he would not be steered off course regardless of the views of his critics, the Telegraph says.Carol Bartz has been ousted as chief executive of Yahoo! by the company's board of directors, after a rocky tenure at the helm of the company as it tried to fend off competition from social networking sites and cement its investments in China. In a brief statement the company said that Ms Bartz, 62, would be replaced on an interim basis by chief financial officer Timothy Morse, who is to be supported by a new executive leadership council, the Times reports.Default insurance cost on British state-owned banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group have again spiked to all-time highs amid growing concerns for the outlook for the industry. Credit default swaps, effectively insurance on a borrower becoming unable to payback their debt, written on state-backed lenders Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group yesterday hit new highs, according to the Telegraph.The extent of the insurance mis-selling problems at Lloyds TSB were laid bare as Britain's biggest banking group stood out in a damning set of figures released by the financial ombudsman. Overall complaints about financial services firms rose 54 per cent in the first six months of 2011 compared to the previous half-year, the Daily Mail writes.The average director of a FTSE 100 company now has a pension pot worth £3.9m, the TUC's annual PensionsWatch survey will say today. According to the survey - covering 362 directors of FTSE 100 companies in Britain - that would provide a pension of £224,121 compared with the average occupational pension of less than £10,000, the Independent reports.Groupon, the online discount firm, is reportedly close to ditching plans to go public in one of the biggest share offerings to date from the new generation of technology firms. The Chicago-based company was scheduled to begin a roadshow next week, visiting potential investors ahead of what was one of the most hotly anticipated digital flotations, the Guardian reports.---RG