Business week in pictures

The week began with Ireland finally agreeing an €85bn (£72bn) bailout. As the terms of the rescue package by the International Monetary Fund and European Union were digested by investors, stock markets suffered on both sides of the Atlantic, the euro tumbled, and the cost of borrowing for Ireland, Spain and Portugal jumped. Amid speculation that the European authorities may be left with little option but to embark on large-scale quantitative easing to try to bolster sentiment, Ireland's borrowing costs shot as high as 9.6% Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Confidence in the eurozone was further eroded on Tuesday as the cost of insuring government debt rose sharply to record levels, and the euro hit a 10-week low. The financial markets continued to punish the peripheral members of the eurozone, with Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland all seeing their borrowing costs increase. Pictured are cranes on an unfinished construction site on the outskirts of Madrid Photograph: Paul White/AP

By the end of the week, it appeared that ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet had managed to calm markets, despite refusing to accelerate measures to support ailing eurozone economies in the aftermath of the Irish bailout. He said he would keep giving banks unlimited liquidity well into next year but made no guarantee to step up the bond-buying to combat investor panic surrounding Portugal and Spain Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

'Bad' decisions rather than dishonesty are to blame for the near-collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland, the Financial Services Authority said as it shut its investigation into what went wrong at the bailed-out bank. The City regulator will not take any action against former chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin or any other directors of RBS as a result of an analysis conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which will not be made public Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

Leaked US embassy cables revealed that the head of the Bank of England privately criticised David Cameron and George Osborne for their lack of experience, the lack of depth in their inner circle and their tendency to think about issues only in terms of their electoral impact. Mervyn King told the US ambassador, Louis Susman, he had held private meetings with the two Conservative politicians before the election to urge them to draw up a detailed plan to reduce the deficit. He said the pair operated too much within a narrow circle and 'had a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics, and how they might affect Tory electorability' Photograph: Shaun Curry/AFP/Getty Images

British Airways cabin crew are to be balloted over fresh strikes in their long-running dispute with the airline, the Unite union said. Joint leader Tony Woodley accused BA's management of victimising union members at the airline. Woodley said the union was 'left with no choice' but to call the ballot in a bid to resolve the dispute Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Also this week, British Airways shareholders approved a £5bn merger between their airline and Spanish carrier Iberia. Iberia's investors also gave the deal the go-ahead, meaning a giant combined airline will be created Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

George Osborne said that Britain was 'back on track' after hailing his fiscal watchdog's report as proof that the government's plan to take the UK out of the financial danger zone and 'balance the books' was working. The chancellor seized on the forecasts outlined by the Office for Budget Responsibility to say that the government would 'stick to the course' he set out in his June emergency budget. Osborne said the OBR's central view was that there 'will be no double-dip recession', with 'considerably higher' growth this year than predicted in June Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA

A cold snap lasting until the weekend could send the bill for lost sales and extra costs to business soaring above £6bn. The insurer RSA estimated that the freezing weather could cost the UK economy up to £1.2bn a day, with retailers and the restaurant and bar industries likely to be the worst affected Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Thomas Cook has cut 500 jobs in the UK after suffering a 'very tough year', and admits that the outlook for 2011 in Britain remains unclear. The travel specialist also revealed the impact of the strategic review of its UK costs announced in September. The restructuring has resulted in the loss of 500 managerial and support roles. It also involved renegotiating supplier costs and consolidating IT and other infrastructure, and will save the company £40m-£50m a year Photograph: Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images

Flybe's long-awaited flotation was cleared for takeoff. In an announcement to the stock exchange, the budget airline said it would raise £60m through the offer, which it intends to use to expand its fleet of aircraft and to strengthen a warchest for acquisitions and other opportunities Photograph: Martin Oeser/dapd/AP

Sir Philip Green, the retail billionaire and efficiency adviser to the government, is to become the target of a nationwide campaign by protesters opposed to government cuts and alleged tax avoidance. High street stores belonging to the businessman's group, including Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, will be among those that protesters focus on in the run-up to Christmas. Plans to disrupt Arcadia Group stores were devised by UK Uncut, a fast-expanding group of activists who have closed down more than 30 Vodafone shops in the past six weeks by mobilising through social networks Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi for the Guardian

JJB Sports has become the first high street chain to warn that it is suffering from the snowy weather that hit the UK this week, as it admitted that it was in talks with its banks over its future. The troubled retailer told the City that it expects to breach the terms of its loans next month. It added that it is now engaged in refinancing talks with its banks Photograph: Rex Features