The longevity dividend: How to make the most of our ageing society October 1, 2018 It is well known that the UK is ageing. In 1976, only 14 per cent of the population was aged over 65, today it is 18 per cent, and in 2036 it is estimated to be 25 per cent. Over the same period, the median age is expected to rise from 34 to 43. The [...]
War of words: Former Brexit minister brands CBI a ‘grave menace to political stability’ in damning attack September 30, 2018 A former Brexit minister and leading Tory backbencher has launched a remarkable and scathing attack on Britain’s largest business lobby group today, branding the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) “a grave menace to the political stability and economic prospects of the UK”. In a hard-hitting article that claims the CBI is no longer the voice of [...]
Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier puts himself out of contention for EU presidency September 28, 2018 The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has put himself out of the running to become the centre-right's candidate to replace departing Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission. Barnier's announcement ends a protracted period of speculation suggesting that he would throw his hat into the ring for the role of Spitzenkandidat in the [...]
GDP: Half-year growth hits slowest rate since 2011 as business investment slides September 28, 2018 The UK economy grew by 0.5 per cent in the second half of this year, marking the weakest six-monthly growth in seven years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) findings on gross domestic product (GDP) today show that the underlying trend is “still one of slowing real GDP growth”, with the UK economy growing [...]
Expectations have been set too low – let’s go for the free trade deal Britain deserves September 28, 2018 The Brexit debate has soured on both sides of the aisle. Remainers are hunkering down in their calls for a second referendum, while Leavers – who were not so long ago standing side-by-side to push the vote over the line in their favour – are now subject to infighting over the specific deal that [...]
DEBATE: Would the energy market benefit from Corbyn’s proposed wind turbines and renewable subsidies? September 28, 2018 Would the energy market benefit from Corbyn’s proposed wind turbines and renewable subsidies? Alan Lockey, head of research at Demos, says YES. First, let’s dispense with the notion that it’s a choice between unsubsidised fossil fuels and subsidised renewables: the global energy “market” is all subsidised. In fact, research by the International Energy Association [...]
DEBATE: Is Labour looking more like a credible government-in-waiting after this year’s conference? September 27, 2018 Is Labour looking more like a credible government-in-waiting after this year’s conference? Finn McRedmond, staff writer at Reaction, says YES. In his keynote speech yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn said to Jim O’Neill, former Tory minister and Goldman Sachs economist: “You’re welcome, come and join us in the new political mainstream.” This was the pervasive sentiment: [...]
The shadow chancellor: A thief who plans to rob British business blind September 27, 2018 Somebody has got to say it: the shadow chancellor John McDonnell is a thief (well, an aspiring thief), with his planned 10 per cent giveaway of company equity to workers. The Theft Act 1968 says a person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving [...]
Fed hikes interest rates, signalling an end to ‘accommodative’ monetary policy September 26, 2018 The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates again tonight, in an expected move which reaffirmed steady economic growth and rising employment. Policymakers have now lifted the benchmark to a range of two to 2.25 per cent, an increase of a quarter of a percentage point from its last rate hike in early August. In a [...]
At long last, economists appreciate that private debt was the catalyst for the crisis September 26, 2018 This month saw the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, a collapse which precipitated one of the only two global financial crises of the past 150 years. The late 2000s and early 1930s were the only periods in time when capitalism itself has trembled on the edge of the precipice. It was [...]