More than 60 per cent of London firms plan to lay off staff, survey says July 28, 2020 More than 60 per cent of London firms expect to lay off some of their furloughed employees, a survey has said, in a sign of the wave of unemployment that is to come. The Lloyds Bank business barometer found that just under one in five London firms who have used the scheme expect to bring [...]
Stamp duty cut sees London house sales rocket 27 per cent July 28, 2020 The stamp duty holiday has significantly boosted London’s housing market, with new sales agreed up by over a quarter in just two weeks, new data has shown. UK house prices rose 0.2 per cent in June as a jump in demand for houses outstripped a fall in the number of sellers, the figures also showed. [...]
Boris Johnson’s calorie labelling plan is well-intentioned but economically inept July 27, 2020 Let me start with a concession to the Prime Minister: not all the policies in his anti-obesity drive are outright objectionable. Banning food advertising and telling shopkeepers where they can and can’t stock their products are obvious and unacceptable intrusions, whatever their intended goal. But as a liberal economist, I am prepared to consider some [...]
German business morale picks up as recovery continues July 27, 2020 German companies became more optimistic in July after morale rose at a record rate in June as the economy continued to recover from coronavirus and as spirits were lifted by the EU’s €750bn (£680bn) recovery fund. The business climate index from respected think tank Ifo rose to 90.5 this month from 86.3 in June. It [...]
UK economy could take four years to recover, says EY July 27, 2020 The UK economy will take four years to return to its 2019 size as consumer caution and high levels of unemployment weigh on growth, economic forecaster EY Item Club has predicted. EY Item Club said it expects the UK economy to shrink by an enormous 11.5 per cent this year and then grow by just [...]
Want a recovery that works for everyone? Fix the injustices in the tax system July 27, 2020 The lockdown shone a spotlight onto a two-speed, two-nation Britain, where better-paid white-collar professionals worked from home, while less well-off key workers had to keep travelling to work, often on crowded public transport, to do riskier jobs. Even worse, it turned out that those less well-off key workers were paying much higher tax rates than [...]
US economy: Demand hit by new coronavirus lockdowns July 24, 2020 The US’s private sector stabilised in June but demand faltered as states re-imposed lockdowns in response to rising coronavirus cases, survey data has shown. An early estimate of the IHS Markit purchasing managers’ index – a gauge of the health of the economy – hit a six-month high of 50 as output improved after the [...]
Don’t believe the Scottish independence hype — I’d bet on Johnson’s tortoise to beat Sturgeon’s hare July 24, 2020 For his first significant political event outside the Westminster bubble, timed for his one-year anniversary of becoming Prime Minister, Boris Johnson chose to go to Scotland. The significance of that choice cannot be overestimated. Politics is as unpredictable as ever, and despite chancellor Rishi Sunak hosing Scotland with the billions confected by the Bank of [...]
Three charts suggest a V-shaped recovery, but economists are sceptical July 24, 2020 British businesses reported the best growth in five years in July and shoppers spent their money at close to pre-coronavirus rates in June, data showed today in a positive sign for the UK economy. It was a stark contrast to two weeks ago, when figures showed that the economy undershot expectations in May with just [...]
Private sector grows at fastest pace in five years as UK economy reopens July 24, 2020 Britain’s all-important services sector grew at its fastest pace in five years in July as much of the UK economy reopened from the coronavirus lockdown, a survey has shown. Private sector output as a whole also grew at its fastest clip since 2015 as manufacturing production picked up speed, according to the early survey reading. [...]