Thursday newspaper round-up: China, UK recession, Vodafone, Admiral

China's credit bubble has finally popped. The property market is swinging wildly from boom to bust, the cautionary exhibit of a BRIC's dream that is at last coming down to earth with a thud. It is hard to obtain good data in China, but something is wrong when the country's Homelink property website can report that new home prices in Beijing fell 35% in November from the month before. If this is remotely true, the calibrated soft-landing intended by Chinese authorities has gone badly wrong and risks spinning out of control. The growth of the M2 money supply slumped to 12.7% in November, the lowest in 10 years. New lending fell 5% on a month-to-month basis, The Telegraph reports. Britain is heading for recession next year and the Chancellor is on course to miss his budget targets due to persistent slow growth, economists at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) have warned. The UK will contract by 0.4% in 2012 as a result of an even deeper recession in Britain's major trading partner, the eurozone. The prediction makes LGIM the fourth leading forecaster to warn of an outright recession. UBS, Capital Economics and Standard Chartered all expect the economy to shrink over the coming 12 months, The Telegraph says. Official figures revealed another 128,000 people joined the jobless ranks between August and October, taking unemployment to 2.64m, the highest level since 1994. Women and young people bore the brunt of the losses, with female unemployment reaching a 23-year high and youth joblessness soaring by 54,000 to 1.03m over the quarter. Business leaders joined calls for action to stem rising unemployment, especially among the under-25s. (...) In brighter news, the number of self-employed Britons shot up by 166,000 over the quarter to reach 4.1m, according to The Telegraph. Up to ten companies are facing a judge-led investigation into their tax settlements amid growing concern over the way Revenue & Customs polices the City. Next week, the taxman will be accused of letting down the public through systematic management failures, after signing questionable deals with Vodafone and Goldman Sachs that have angered politicians and generated mass protests. MPs believe that the settlements with these companies deprived taxpayers of up to £2 billion and £20 million respectively. The Public Accounts Committee, will publish a sharply critical report, turning its fire on David Hartnett, who announced his retirement as head of the department on Friday, as well as other senior staff there, The Times says. The prospect of a full-blown competition inquiry into the cost of motor insurance loomed large yesterday as the consumer watchdog launched a formal inquiry into soaring premiums. The Office of Fair Trading, which had called for evidence in the summer, said that it suspected there were aspects of the way in which private motor insurance worked that restricted and distorted competition. As part of a market study that could lead to a referral to the Competition Commission, it said that it would concentrate on two areas: the cost of repairing vehicles damaged in accidents and the provision of replacement hire cars for the victims. City analysts said that the OFT's inquiry could present a further headache for Admiral, the Confused.com owner that is already struggling with a higher-than-expected increase in personal injury claims, The Times holds. Tensions between Britain and France over the future of the EU intensified after Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly accused David Cameron of behaving like "an obstinate kid" when he wielded the British veto at the European summit last week. As Angela Merkel held out an olive branch to Cameron by describing Britain as an important partner, the prime minister started agitating against the Franco-German push for a new treaty, writes The Guardian.AB