Credit crunch

Edinburgh has slipped in a survey of the top global financial centres to 27th in the world.

The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) was first produced by the Z/Yen Group for the City of London in March 2007 and now reports every six months

A couple or so Book Festivals ago, A. L Kennedy (about to come out as a stand-up comic) bemoaned the lives of authors sent by publishers to, well, not exactly lie abroad about their books, but promote and push them to potential purchasers in various places.

The Vue Omni is hosting three free screenings of horror films in the run-up to their DVD releases in a "Credit Crunch special". Credit Crunch Cinema kicks off on the 15 May with a free screening of One Eyed Monster starring adult film stars Ron Jeremy and Veronica Hart and "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" pin-up Amber Benson.

Historic Scotland is offering a credit-crunch special for families, "Make Your Own History", whereby people get six months free membership when they buy 12 months. This means a family will pay just £6.16 a month for free access to over 70 properties run by Historic Scotland.

The membership includes access to some of Scotland's top tourist destinations including Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle and Urquhart Castle, Linlithgow Palace and Skara Brae on Orkney.

A Council report published today has confirmed that the Edinburgh Trams project is struggling under the current economic downturn. In particular, funding constraints mean that there has been a shortfall in funding for Line 1b

The average Edinburgh house price has fallen by 6.8% annually in the first three months of 2009, according to statistics released today by the ESPC.

The Dunfermline Building Society, its 530 staff, 300,000 customers, branches, and call centres has been taken over by the UK's biggest building society the Nationwide today.

Mountgrange Capital, the organisation behind the controversial £300 million Caltongate luxury hotel, retail, and residential development in Edinburgh Old Town have announced that they have gone into administration.

Former Royal Bank of Scotland chief Sir Fred "the Shred" Goodwin is facing increasing public and government pressure to give up his pension after running the bank into the ground.

RBS, which has its head office in St. Andrew Square, reported an annual loss of more than £24bn on Thursday - the largest corporate loss in British history.

The City of Edinburgh Council's Advice Shop will be moving to a new premises this summer. The council bought out of the lease to rent shop front premises on South Bridge in favour of a move to its own building at 329 High Street. The move was approved by councillors at yesterday's meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee.

A recent rise in the number of people burning wood and coal to heat their homes has led the City of Edinburgh Council to issue a stern reminder to residents: Edinburgh is a Smoke Control Area and burning coal or wood could incur a fine of £1,000.

The average house price in Edinburgh now stands at £193,354 after falling 10.1% in the last year, said the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre today. While this is a bigger fall than the house price drop across East Central Scotland, where the average price fell 8.5% to £181,527, Edinburgh has managed to avoid some of the pain experienced south of the border.

British pensioners and those who rely on savings for income are not feeling too festive this christmas after the Bank of England reduced interest rates, earlier this month, to levels not seen since

The Samaritans launches its third annual Stress Down Day to help create awareness of work-related stress, an issue brought into focus

Edinburgh's Festival Fringe is to be provided with a short term financial support package of £250,000 from a group of key funders to tackle cash-flow problems.

One of Scotland's leading solicitor estate agents forecasts that the housing market will start to show the first signs of recovery when the Bank of England levels out interest rates.

Edinburgh's concentration of financial services companies means that it will be one of the first cities after London to feel the chill of the credit crunch, according to a new survey by accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young.

The redevelopment of Meadowbank stadium is likely to be suspended temporarily until land values in Edinburgh recover. The project had been due to start in early 2011 with a two year target for completion but the recent onset of a global financial crisis has contributed to a decrease in the value of the Council's land assets.

The economic downturn will hit Edinburgh City Council coffers hard next year. An autumn budget statement, the first to be published by the Council, highlights increased costs and lower income.

The credit crunch may be a global financial crisis, but Edinburgh City Council believes it can take steps to alleviate some of the pressure locally. Edinburgh, as one of Europe's main financial centres, has already seen how rapidly the damage can be done