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 [...]
Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane to head industrial strategy council October 7, 2018 The government has appointed Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane to chair a new industrial strategy council in a bid to boost Britain’s low productivity. The council, which will meet three or four times per year, will publish a regular report on the government’s progress on implementing its industrial strategy. The body will also [...]
UK productivity is still lower than it was before the financial crisis October 5, 2018 UK workers boosted their hourly productivity at their fastest rate in more than a year in the second quarter, the latest data shows. However, the growth of 1.4 per cent in the three months to June compared to the same period a year ago, but is still far lower than the average of two per [...]
Everyone’s a loser in today’s fabricated generation wars October 5, 2018 According to doomsayers in policy and media circles, the young have never had it so bad, and the fault lies with their greedy elders. The allegedly enormous, voracious baby boomer generation, living it up on the golf course with the ill-gotten gains from gold-plated pensions and over-valued houses, is in the firing line for causing [...]
The Tories talk the talk on free markets, but the policies don’t match the rhetoric October 5, 2018 Last year’s Conservative party conference marked a change in tone for the Prime Minister and her relationship with the free market. Perhaps it was the 2017 snap election upset that made her roll back her language around “untrammeled free markets”, or maybe there was increased understanding that after Brexit a commitment to competition would be vital [...]
