The deficit is social and political and neo-liberal economics are to blame

Global wealth is being captured by an increasingly disconnected elite and creating a vacuum ripe for the rhetoric of UKIP and other extreme parties

Instant gratification is now common currency. No wonder bankers abuse it

Anne Perkins: First thoughts: Capitalism has overvalued the present at the expense of the future, as Mark Carney says. But how to change this 'me now' culture?

Bank of England governor: capitalism doomed if ethics vanish

Mark Carney issues strong critique of City behaviour and warns of growing sense that basic social contract is breaking down

Carney and Lagarde acknowledge City’s primeval will to survive

Larry Elliott: Bank of England and IMF chiefs articulate fears that bankers have an inbuilt sense of profit preservation in face of regulation

Special report: an outsider’s guide to the City of London

Has the UK’s financial HQ done anything meaningful to protect itself from future economic shocks? Stephen Moss goes deep into ‘enemy territory’ to find out

What next for Europe’s battered post-election political leaders?

Ian Traynor: A Brussels dinner brings together walking wounded from a historic election that has reshaped the politics of at least four nations

Bank may yet need to go nuclear to burst the housing bubble

Larry Elliott: The response to a UK real estate boom-bust is being toughened up as more evidence emerges of history repeating itself

UK opposition to financial transaction tax rejected

'George Osborne has gone to Europe to bat for the bankers, but he's been bowled first ball,' says tax campaigner

Osborne’s intervention over RBS was cynical and ultimately nonsensical

Business leader: Political posturing over high pay has occasionally produced good results. But the chancellor's ploy was clumsy and obvious

RBS bonus plan blocked by government

Royal Bank of Scotland wanted to ask shareholders for permission to pay bonuses twice the size of salaries to sidestep EU rules

Sports Direct founder’s shares sale wipes almost £500m off market value

Retailer biggest FTSE 100 faller after City reacts to move by Goldman Sachs to place 24m shares it bought from Mike Ashley

Lloyds Banking Group prepares for sale of more of taxpayer’s stake

Bailed-out bank plans to seek shareholders' approval for part-sale of government's 25% holding

Western banking regulations could be ‘mutually destructive’ – IMF report

International Monetary Fund says policymakers have failed to stabilise sector and protect taxpayers from banks too big to fail

Pensions inquiry could be a case of FCA watchdog showboating

What would the Financial Conduct Authority actually do if it finds customers of pension funds are being treated unfairly?

George Osborne faces questions over Co-op Bank bid for Lloyds branches

Treasury committee chair asks chancellor to address former Co-op chairman's claims of political interference in ill-fated bid