President Trump should be positive for the UK economy – in the short term at least When the US electorate chose Donald Trump as their next President, they voted for a big break from the liberal consensus which Hillary Clinton epitomised. Globalisation had not served Trump supporters well, and they wanted something radically different. We are now beginning to get more of a taste of what this might be. Some of [...]
Britain can Brexit in two years if politicians adopt the right can-do attitude The chancellor, along with a number of his cabinet colleagues, appears to be swinging round to the view that more than two years is going to be required for Brexit. This may be unnecessarily dangerous territory both for us and the EU 27. And it’s an unnecessarily long timetable too. When we joined the Common Market [...]
Let’s face it: the UK’s stagnant productivity levels are here to stay Key elements of the chancellor’s Autumn Statement were policies both to increase productivity and to curb the government deficit. Unfortunately, neither of these goals is likely to be realised. Stagnant productivity certainly is a major millstone round the UK economy’s neck. Output per hour today is only fractionally above what it was 10 years ago, [...]
The dramatic fall in sterling is a cause for celebration – not depression October 6, 2016 Sterling is now trading at well under $1.30 to the pound, the lowest it has been for 31 years. Is this a cause for gloom or celebration? Most people seem to be depressed by what is happening, but they ought to be rejoicing. The UK’s exchange rate rose massively during the monetarist era in the [...]
