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Don't forget the human cost of the economic crisis

Another day, another tale of woe for the economy. The FTSE 100 down eight per cent and now at its lowest level for four years. Read

Motor industry needs the hard sell more than ever

Paris is home to the fictional Phantom Of The Opera. However, there is a very real spectre hanging over the car industry. Read

Why demutualisation turned out to be such a bad idea

What do the building society carpetbaggers, the fast buck merchants and the promotors of demutalisation have to say about the banking crisis? Read

Business is the new rock'n'roll

The plummeting fortunes of the world’s businesses have made what Thomas Carlyle called the “Dismal Science” sexy again. Read

Teamwork can lead region to success at Mipim

MIPIM may still be almost six months away but it is already beginning to occupy the minds of the region’s great and good. Read

HBOS misery could spell trouble for takeover

Short sellers have been targeting bank shares this year. We all know that. Read

Everyone had a part to play in credit catastrophe

Last Friday saw the announcement of the mother of all bailouts with the US government’s $700 billion (£380 billion) plan to take toxic securities into public stewardship in a so-called “bad bank”. Read

We have to live with boom and bust in a free market

The hounds and riders – dressed in an appropriately socialist shade of pink – are gathering to hunt down the culprits behind last week’s banking meltdown. Read

You can't bank on anything after this shake-up

The tectonic plates under the British banking world shifted mightily as HBOS was taken over by fellow big-fiver Lloyds TSB. Read

Alliance & Leicester shareholders have to bite Santander bullet

Shareholders in Alliance & Leicester will be asked today to cast their final votes on the bank’s proposed £1.3 billion takeover by Abbey’s Spanish owner Santander. Read

Credit crunch starting to hit where it hurts

It seems we have moved into a new phase of the economic downturn – a more painful phase. Read

Credit crunch could be fatal for Birmingham regeneration

Twenty years on from the Highbury Initiative, Birmingham is going through a staggering tranformation. It is unrecognisable from the 1980s. Read

How CERN proves a little R&D can go a long way

I recently had a conversation with a very excited academic at the University of Birmingham. Read

Sterling was always bound to hit a rough patch

Swallow your disappointment that this year’s pre-Christmas shopping trip to New York is now looking prohibitively expensive. Read

Comedians are running the economy but no-one's laughing

The headline on the front of Saturday’s Financial Times said “Palin to shake up election fight in US”. My first thought was “mmm...from Monty Python to the Republic presidential ticket, not bad.” Read

US election could still pull the economy round

It is one of those maddening stock market maxims like “Sell in May”. Wall Street does well in years divisible by four. Read

Recession is probable but it isn't like the 1970s

For those of us not so far gone in drink or dementia as to be unable to remember the 1970s, evocations of that dreadful decade by some commentators among the current economic downturn are pretty horrible. Read

Housing sector's health in the spotlight

Further indication as to the strength – or perhaps the lack of it – of the UK’s housing sector will come this week with updates from Bovis and Taylor Wimpey. Read

Longbridge production line is rolling again with high hopes for the future

After all the doubts expressed about the lack of a future for Longbridge, car production has once again resumed at the famous plant – although not in a way most people would recognise. Read

The web is taking over the world - to a point

As professions go, journalism does not enjoy the greatest of reputations; seedy, scruffy and having an aversion to the truth are all characteristics unfairly levelled at the industry. Read

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Sports Columnist

Pat Murphy

Pat Murphy

Five Live's sports correspondent writes exclusively for the Post. Read