This week the Prime Minister announced that UK defence spending will now be raised from 2.3% to 2.5% of national income in 2027, funded by cutting overseas aid from 0.5% to 0.3%. The politics around this switch are controversial – the minister responsible for aid has just resigned in protest – but the economics is … Continue reading Should overseas aid be cut to fund more spending on defence?
Category: Applied economics
Is the “booming net zero economy” really a key driver of growth?
On Monday the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit published a report by CBI Economics which generated plenty of uncritical headlines about the “booming net zero economy”. In particular, the report claimed that the total economic value (GVA) generated by the sector grew by 10.1% last year, and that this supported the equivalent of 951,000 full-time … Continue reading Is the “booming net zero economy” really a key driver of growth?
What to make of today’s UK jobs data
Tuesday’s official data on the state of the UK labour market have been interpreted in several conflicting ways, so here is an attempt to cut through the fog. I took two main points from the figures themselves. First, activity in the labour market continues to cool. I would not pay much attention to the headline … Continue reading What to make of today’s UK jobs data
Schools presentation on fiscal policy
Here the slides from a presentation I gave last week to A-level students of economics at a schools conference in Portsmouth. They include primers on the UK fiscal framework and the bond markets, the importance of confidence and credibility, and a comparison of the fallouts from the fiscal events in September 2022 and October 2024. … Continue reading Schools presentation on fiscal policy
Plain-speaking Economics 