Trump election is “positive” for the UK, says Bank of England’s Ben Broadbent February 3, 2017 Donald Trump’s election as US President has had a “positive” effect on the UK’s economy, according to the Bank of England’s deputy governor. Ben Broadbent said the new US administration’s policies of higher spending on infrastructure as well as tax cuts and deregulation will help promote global growth, benefiting the UK. “It is a positive thing,” [...]
Taxation rates seen as unfairly slanted towards the self-employed and company managers by the Institute for Fiscal Studies February 3, 2017 DIFFERENCES in the way the tax system treats the self-employed, owner-managers and employees are “costly, inefficient and unfair” according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It found that the tax system is much less favourable to the 85 per cent in employment than it is the 15 per cent who work for themselves. The self-employed [...]
As the Bank of England hikes its growth forecasts, is it time for economists to admit they were wrong about Brexit? February 3, 2017 Ruth Lea, economic adviser to the Arbuthnot Banking Group, says Yes. The Bank of England was far too pessimistic in August when it slashed 2017’s forecast growth rate to 0.8 per cent and its accompanying monetary package was premature, to say the least. Unsurprisingly, therefore, it has since upgraded this year’s growth prospects twice: to [...]
Defaulting to WTO terms post-Brexit would be a disaster for British trade February 2, 2017 Now that MPs have given permission to trigger Article 50 and Theresa May has outlined her 12-point plan for Brexit in both a speech and a White Paper, we finally have some clarity about the government’s intentions. But we still start with a clean piece of paper: we are leaving the Single Market and the Customs [...]
Bank of England in dramatic upgrade of UK growth forecasts February 2, 2017 Bank of England governor Mark Carney dramatically revised up growth forecasts today, while dismissing fears of banks leaving the UK after Brexit. The Bank now predicts no slowdown over the course of this year. GDP will climb two per cent, according to the Bank’s latest forecasts, the same rate as growth in 2016. The upgrade [...]
French bond yields rise as Fillon scandal threatens to deliver far-right Marine Le Pen the Presidency February 2, 2017 Investors are fleeing French government debt on fears that far-right Marine Le Pen will become President, as the candidacy of former favourite Francois Fillon continues to be tainted by a scandal involving his Welsh-born wife. The yield on the French 10-year government bond has risen steadily over the past month to reach highs of 1.128 [...]
Stop expecting central bankers to grow the economy: They can’t February 2, 2017 In 2008, monetary authorities around the world embarked on an unprecedented series of experiments. As economies tanked and governments throttled back on fiscal measures in the face of huge debts and deficits, people looked to central bankers to use monetary policy to stimulate economic growth. Since then we have seen a range of once outlandish tools [...]
Britain can lead the world in free trade – by keeping trade deals simple February 2, 2017 In some ways, the Brexit referendum settled a long-running question. However, it has also raised more profound issues that this government now needs to address. These include the question of whether we should adopt a policy of openness, free trade and liberalisation of regulation at home. And then, should we take the lead in promoting such [...]
The UK’s SME manufacturers have seen new orders grow as price pressures rise February 2, 2017 Domestic orders grew at the fastest pace in two years to give the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a welcome boost ahead of Brexit, according to a new survey. Almost a third of SMEs say domestic demand has increased, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The outlook for the [...]
Top business leaders are getting to work on making British industry digital to boost productivity and jobs February 1, 2017 It's full speed ahead for Britain's digital economy as top business leaders embark on ambitious plans to pull industry into the modern age and position itself at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution. Increasing productivity and creating highly-skilled jobs will be the focus of the ambitious new plan to put digital technology, such as artificial [...]
