She told economists in Washington: There are some signs which might indicate a housing bubble but it is

She told economists in Washington: “There are some signs which might indicate a housing bubble but it is not clear how far these may have contributed to higher prices.”She highlighted the huge growth in the buy-to-let market thanks to buyers looking for a capital gain, and parents using equity in their homes to help their children with a deposit to clinch their first home.Ms Barker dismissed calls for the Bank to set interest rates to target the prices of assets such as houses. “This is likely to create uncertainty about what the aims of monetary policy are, and lead to volatile inflation expectations,” she said.Her comments came as Oxford Economic Forecasting, a private consultancy, said house prices were overvalued by as much as 19 per cent. It said the chance of a fall in prices this year was almost 85 per cent, but the decline would be limited to a 4 per cent drop. Its report, prepared by the estate agency Cluttons, concluded there would be no crash and prices would rise over the next five years. Fears of a crash in house prices rose yesterday after senior officials at the Treasury and Bank of England admitted the UK might be in the grips of a “bubble”.
John Cunliffe, the head of macroeconomic policy at the Treasury, told MPs a slump in property prices was “one of the most important risks” to the economy. “There clearly is a risk to the housing market both ways,” he told the Commons Treasury Committee, adding that there were risks of an “abrupt fall”.Meanwhile Kate Barker, a member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee and author of a major investigation into the housing industry, said price were at “historically high levels”. Shares in Carnival fell 4 per cent to 2,921p.Howard Frank, the chief operating officer, said the spike in the oil price would wipe out “positives such as a stronger booking environment and an overall strong vacation market”.

It said the price of fuel had risen 23 per cent higher than average prices over the past three quarters. Unlike airlines, Carnival cannot hedge the type of fuel it uses ­ mostly bunker fuel ­ against the oil price rising.The company, which is nearing the end of its peak booking period, said advance booking levels for the rest of the year were “well ahead” of last year, even after allowing for a 9 per cent capacity increase.. Carnival, the US cruise ship giant that acquired P&O Princess, warned yesterday that the sharp rise in fuel costs would hit its profits in the second quarter.
The warning spooked investors despite the group’s optimism that demand for cruises would continue to soar. He added: “That offsets the benefit that we’re getting from the better pricing in the market.”Carnival estimated that its earnings per share would be 45 cents to 47 cents during the next three months, less than the 49 cents most analysts had pencilled in. Mr Annan says member states are “rightly concerned” about the decline in the assembly’s prestige and its diminishing contribution to UN activities.What Annan wants The General Assembly should streamline its agenda and concentrate on “major substantive issues of the day”, such as international migration and the long-debated convention on terrorism. It should engage more actively with civil society.What will happen? Nothing.

Asking member states to put their collective house in order is akin to asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.. States will scrutinise the costs of setting up the proposed peacebuilding support office.General AssemblyWhat’s the problem? Increasingly seen as a talking-shop disconnected from reality and giving the UN a bad name. Security Council should adopt resolution on principles for use of force.What will happen? The big powers on the Security Council are unlikely to accept advice from the UN secretary general when their strategic interests are at stake. Half the countries emerging from violent conflict revert to war within five years, because peace agreements are not properly implemented.What Annan wants Member states should create an intergovernmental peacebuilding commission, and a peacebuilding support office at UN HQ, so the UN can better help countries move from war to peace.

He wants adoption of a terrorism convention by September 2006.What will happen? Agreeing a definition of terrorism was a major breakthrough but negotiations on a treaty likely to drag on.Conflict preventionWhat’s the problem? The UN has been sidelined as states have gone to war without UN approval. The millennium goals will be part of broader agenda targeting debt and aid through such programmes as Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa.TerrorismWhat’s the problem? For years, a comprehensive convention against terrorism has been held up for lack of a definition, with some countries arguing that one nation’s terrorists are another’s freedom fighters.What Annan wants All countries must accept that resisting occupation “cannot include the right to deliberately kill or maim civilians”. He says the millennium goals can be met only if all involved break with “business as usual” and take drastic action.What will happen? The Americans are balking at the revival of the 0.7 per cent figure. But progress has been far from uniform across the world, particularly in Africa.What Annan wants Each developed country should set a timetable to achieve the 0.7 per cent target of gross national income for aid no later than 2015. But African nations have not yet agreed among themselves.The Foreign Office minister, Bill Rammell said: “The key judgement will be whether those countries regionally, who are just behind preferred candidates, will say, ‘We never want to have any enlargement and we’ll wreck the process’, or, ‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to actually make it happen’.”The report aims to put the United Nations back at the heart of global security, after the bitter debate on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction led to the US and Britain invading Iraq without UN authorisation.REFORMING THE UNWMDWhat’s the problem? Fears of “loose nukes” have increased.