UK inflation rate highest of major advanced economies in February April 2, 2019 The UK’s annual inflation rate was the highest of the G7 countries in February, statistics released today showed, due in part to the fall in the value of the pound pushing up the cost of imported goods. Read more: Inflation edges up from two-year low as food and alcohol prices rise Britain’s inflation rate in [...]
Are emerging markets really worth the risk? April 2, 2019 At a time when the US Federal Reserve has well and truly capitulated on its hiking path, some emerging markets are not showing signs of relief. Against the dollar, Argentina’s peso is close to an all-time low, the Turkish Lira is teetering near a year-to-date low, and the South African rand is creeping back to [...]
Generation Rent needs more help to buy property, not Help to Buy April 2, 2019 Britain is not yet a nation of renters – but it’s getting there. Half of children are now born in rented accommodation, versus a third back in 2003-4. The number of families renting with children has doubled in a decade, according to the insurance provider Royal London. Meanwhile, new analysis shows that the government’s Help [...]
Still doubting the benefits of free markets? Just look at Ethiopia April 1, 2019 “It's a zero-sum game,” says Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone’s 1987 film, Wall Street. “Somebody wins, somebody loses.” This sentiment relies on the idea is that there is a fixed amount of wealth to go round. It is nonsense – yet many, perhaps unthinkingly, believe it. Read more: Editor's Notes: The future of capitalism deserves more [...]
Growth in key US inflation rate slows in sign of cooling economy March 29, 2019 A key measure of US inflation rose 1.8 per cent in January compared to a year earlier, its slowest rate of growth since February 2018, figures released today showed. Read more: US economic growth unexpectedly slows in final quarter Consumer spending increased by 0.1 per cent in January compared to December, recovering from a 0.6 [...]
Mortgage approvals fall as lending to businesses also drops March 29, 2019 Mortgage approvals for house purchases fell in February while the number approvals for remortgaging also decreased, data released today showed. Meanwhile, the annual growth of bank lending to businesses fell in February for non-financial businesses, reversing an increase in January, Bank of England (BoE) data revealed. Read more: Sluggish GDP growth and shrinking business investment in UK [...]
UK growth sluggish as consumer spending keeps economy afloat March 29, 2019 Britain’s economy grew by just 0.2 per cent in the final quarter of last year compared to the quarter before, figures released today have confirmed, giving it the third-slowest growth rate out of the G7 countries in 2018. The economy was boosted by British consumers spending more than they earned for a ninth consecutive quarter, [...]
Tesco boss accuses business rates system of ‘killing’ retailers March 28, 2019 The chief executive of Tesco, Dave Lewis, has harshly criticised the UK’s business rates system, saying it has become “a rising tax on investment” in a speech today. Lewis said that increasing business rates have come as retailers are squeezed by online competitors, and called for an online sales levy. He brushed off criticism that this [...]
Labour plans to nationalise industries will cause ‘profound harm’ to UK economy, says CBI chief March 28, 2019 Labour party plans to renationalise key industries such as rail would cause "profound harm to the economy", the UK's largest business group has said. Carolyn Fairbairn, the head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said the party's plans to bring rail, utilities and public services would "hurt the very people they are intended to help and [...]
US economic growth unexpectedly slows in final quarter March 28, 2019 America’s economic output grew more slowly than previously expected in the final quarter of 2018, at an annual rate of 2.2 per cent, figures released today showed. The 2.2 per cent figure, which amounts to 0.55 per cent GDP growth in the final quarter compared to the previous quarter, was 0.4 percentage points lower than the [...]
