Editor’s notes: The great Civil Service myth, and why it’s time to shake things up… January 6, 2017 Though probably not on your daily reading list, Dominic Cummings (former adviser to Michael Gove and a top dog in the official Leave campaign) writes a fascinating blog. In between posts on artificial intelligence, super-computing and advanced physics, you’ll find reflections on his time working at the Department for Education as Gove’s senior adviser. If you [...]
A liberal Brexit means continued EU-UK cooperation – but this time as equals January 6, 2017 Brexit means something remarkably straightforward: at some point before the middle of 2019, the UK will no longer be under the jurisdiction of any EU court or legislature. The fact of our impending departure does not, however, mean cutting ourselves off from Europe. If Brexit is easy to define, the details of what our post-EU relationship [...]
With PMIs suggesting strong growth in the UK economy at the end of 2016, will it remain robust in 2017? January 6, 2017 Ruth Lea, economic adviser at Arbuthnot Banking Group, says Yes. The latest Markit survey results found that business activity picked up appreciably in December in all three sectors – manufacturing, construction and services, suggesting that growth remained buoyant in the final quarter. Moreover, I expect growth to remain fairly robust in 2017, at around 1.5 [...]
The UK boosted its productivity potential last year, but Brexit could push it back down again January 5, 2017 The UK's comparative potential for productivity grew last year, but a bad Brexit deal could see it slip back down the rankings, research released today has found. The country crept up from 14th to 13th place in KPMG's Variables for Sustained Growth (VSG) Index, which rates the productivity potential in different countries. The final VSG score [...]
The US services sector ended 2016 on a strong note, confirms the purchasing managers’ index January 5, 2017 The US services sector expanded in December at the same rate as November, continuing healthy growth in the month before Donald Trump becomes US President, according to an important indicator of economic activity. The non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stayed flat at 57.2, indicating a continued expansion in the sector for the 83rd month in [...]
Eurozone producer prices rise for the first time since June 2013, although ECB may be left in a quandary January 5, 2017 Producer prices in the Eurozone increased for the first time in over three years, as inflation finally starts to take hold. The annual rate of producer price inflation rose to 0.1 per cent in November, breaking a trend which had been in place since June 2013. Energy price rises of 0.7 per cent were the [...]
The dominant UK services sector reaches 17-month high in December as domestic demand increases strongly January 5, 2017 Economic activity in the UK’s dominant services sector ended 2016 on strong form to reach a 17-month high, according to an important indicator. The services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose beyond expectations for the third month in a row to 56.2 compared to a 55.2 reading the month before, according to IHS Markit. This is [...]
The optimal Brexit strategy is really quite simple – if Britain leaves the Customs Union January 5, 2017 Discombobulate means to confuse or disconcert. It’s a word which is likely to become very apt as politicians and the media struggle to define the Brexit strategy between now and the end of March – the deadline for initiating Article 50. For the life of me I can’t work out why everybody seems to be [...]
We won’t close the gender pay gap in the City until we face up to the pressures of having a family January 5, 2017 The Resolution Foundation’s report yesterday on the gender pay gap shows progress for young women graduates, but makes for depressing reading for women approaching their 30s. The pay gap for women in their 30s and 40s has hardly changed in a generation. The report concludes that having children has a “sharp and long-lasting” effect on [...]
No wonder the public doesn’t trust Labour with the economy – shadow chancellor John McDonnell can’t even add up January 5, 2017 Among its extensive list of New Year’s resolutions, the Labour party would have presumably included: “Try to win back an ounce of economic credibility”. Under the hapless leadership of socialist fanatics Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, this once-proud party has plummeted in the polls, with a survey late last year revealing that just 18 per [...]