Fines of €1.7bn may be as financially insignificant to mighty Microsoft as a parking fine but the US computer software group is fighting the EU’s penalties with the determination of a motorist who knows he is right – even if he also knows that the odds are loaded in favour of the system.

Microsoft is appealing against the record €899m fine imposed in February for alleged anti-competitive practices. That was on top of €497m penalty imposed in 2004 and the €281m that followed two years later.

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The pound is strong against the dollar and weak against the euro. Something is wrong and it is the dollar.

While Britain historically measures the strength of its currency against the US currency, our trade is with our European neighbours so we are net losers from this foreign exchange imbalance but it is one that will surely start to turn.

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Some organisations – government, bodies like the Bank of England and even a few companies – keep a register of hospitality received by their employees. Lord Woolf’s report on (and for) BAE Systems suggests a log of gifts given.

The former Lord Chief Justice was asked to produce his report because BAE’s critics think gifts are a synonym for bribes.

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With the oil price rising through $10 a barrel, the only thing likely to halt the escalation is recession. But if economies go into recession, one of the main causes will be the high oil price.

This is not so much a circular argument as a self-correcting mechanism, like the governor on a steam engine. Oil prices rise, economies slow, the demand for oil falls and the price of the commodity deceases accordingly.

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“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Bank of England governor Mervyn King could have borrowed those words from Winston Churchill – delivered at the Mansion House, just opposite the Bank, in 1942 – for his latest stability report. He did not exactly sound the all-clear on the credit crunch but he has suggested the worst is over.

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The UK Treasury may not be able to match Ireland’s 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate, but sooner or later it is going to have to make concessions on company taxation to ensure there are companies to tax.

The drip of British businesses re-registering abroad, especially to Dublin, is turning into a steady stream and the more that go, the more acceptable and the easier it is for others to follow. United Business Media and Shire are showing that the brass plaque can be moved offshore while leaving the business and management exactly where it always has been.

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Remember the old woman who ate a spider because she had swallowed a fly? Next she swallowed a bird to deal with the spider – then a cat. The government would do well to study the nursery rhyme as it tries to extricate itself from the mess of the 10p tax band.

Ministers started by wanting to cut the 22p income tax rate. Abolishing the 10p band was the spider to deal with that. Now it is considering invoking a bird in the form of the minimum wage. At some point it must realise that each solution is worse than the problem it is designed to overcome.

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Is British business riddled with corruption? Or is the Office of Fair Trading being overzealous in seeking so much evidence of price fixing? To an outsider – a UK consumer or a foreign enterprise – the impression is that commerce is involved in an anti-competitive conspiracy.

The OFT has publicly investigated alleged cartels in milk, airfares, construction, tobacco sales and now, supermarket grocery prices. Mostly the accusations are unproved, though Britain Airways was heavily fined for agreeing fuel surcharges and some retailers confessed to colluding over the price of milk, even though they thought they were following government policy.

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There is dangerous talk of allowing debtors to default. It has started in the housing market but could spread to business.

The argument is that corporations should not squeeze people who have difficulty meeting their dues. Mortgage lenders are being asked by government to go soft on homeowners with rising mortgage costs rather than repossess their properties. It is suggested the lenders swap their debt for equity rather than evict.

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Forget 200p a share, what exactly is the price of the Royal Bank of Scotland rights issue? Might it be that the regulators have given the bank the capital to rescue its weaker brethren?

There has been much negotiation between the Edinburgh bank, the Bank of England and the regulators to ensure the record £12m share issue gets away smoothly. We know part of the price of the package is the £50bn the Treasury is providing to the Bank to kick-start lending by banks like Royal. We know Royal has made the symbolic gesture of paying its next dividend in paper not cash – and paying less. We may find that heads rolling at Royal follow – but don’t bank on it.

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