IMF data shows there’s even less cash to splash October 11, 2018 Positive news around the public finances has been forthcoming in 2018, following years of disappointingly slow deficit reduction. Borrowing fell to a 16-year low in the fiscal year that ended in April, while in July the Treasury recorded its biggest surplus since 2000. Thus it was a shame to be brought crashing back down to [...]
DEBATE: Should Britain heed the Japanese Prime Minister and join the Trans-Pacific Partnership after Brexit? October 10, 2018 Should Britain heed the Japanese Prime Minister and join the Trans-Pacific Partnership after Brexit? Molly Kiniry, researcher at the Legatum Institute, says YES. The UK has been promised a welcome with “open arms” to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CP-TPP), perhaps the most comprehensive multilateral trade agreement negotiated to date. The mechanics [...]
British exports to EU to be ‘cut in half’ by hard Brexit warns German think tank October 10, 2018 Britain and the EU would sustain economic hits worth billions of pounds if no Brexit deal is agreed before the 29 March 2019, according to analysis by a German think tank. British exports to Europe could fall by as much as 50 per cent, while German exports would decrease by 43 per cent, according to [...]
Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane hails ‘new dawn’ for wages after decade of stagnation October 10, 2018 The Bank of England's top economist today hailed a "new dawn" for wage growth after a "lost decade" for British workers' pay packets. Andy Haldane said that average weekly earnings growth had shown a "clear rise" and that other indicators of labour market tightness have increased to historically high levels. The Bank of England and [...]
British GDP growth grinds to halt in August October 10, 2018 The British economy did not grow appreciably in August, according to early estimates, after a performance earlier in the summer which was stronger than previously thought. GDP growth for the month came in at zero per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. That followed upwardly revised readings of 0.2 per cent growth in [...]
Economies of the future will have to engage with the world, not just the EU October 10, 2018 The fire and the fury rage from day to day around the outcome of the Brexit process. The discussion has lost sight of the longer-term context in which both the UK and the EU will operate, regardless of the precise deal which is or is not struck. The crucial fact to appreciate is that Europe’s [...]
IMF downgrades world economic growth forecast October 9, 2018 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded the world’s economic growth forecast while warning about risks created by the US and China’s trade war. The IMF cut its global growth prediction by 0.2 per cent to 3.7 per cent for 2018 and 2019. Read more: US and Canada sign eleventh-hour deal to replace Nafta It [...]
US duo awarded Nobel Economics Prize for work combining theories on climate change and technology October 8, 2018 Two US economists have won with this year’s prestigious Nobel Economics Prize for work in integrating climate change and technological innovation. William Nordhaus has been recognised for his work on the damaging financial implications of environmental factors such as climate change, while Paul Romer has examined how economists can achieve a healthy rate of economic [...]
DEBATE: Would creating a ‘Free Time Index’, as the Green Party suggests, improve wellbeing in the UK? October 8, 2018 Would creating a ‘Free Time Index’, as the Green party suggests, improve wellbeing in the UK? Leni Zneimer, WeWork general manager for UK and Ireland, says YES. There is an increasingly strong business case being made for prioritising employee wellbeing – and change on a national scale is long overdue. Research from ACAS estimates that mental [...]
When it comes to our social care crisis, prevention is the only cure October 8, 2018 Matt Hancock has survived his first party conference as the new health secretary, wearing his NHS pin proudly on his lapel. And top of the list of his departmental priorities is social care. It got a £240m spending boost last week, but that’s not the only approach on the table. One of Hancock’s recent suggestions [...]