On Sunday, Labour’s Anneliese Dodds tweeted that the UK ‘had the worst recession and the worst growth of any major economy last year’, and that ‘Covid closed much of our economy, but the Conservatives crashed it’. Of course, this is just a tweet and almost all politicians try to score points in this way. Nonetheless, … Continue reading What’s behind the relatively large fall in UK GDP? (reprise…)
Category: Applied economics
Should teachers be prioritised for the Covid vaccine?
It’s clearly important to keep an open mind on whether educational professionals should be prioritised for the Covid vaccines, just as with other aspects of the rollout plan (such as the timing of the second jab). But for now, I’d argue against. Here's why... First, the evidence. In general, teachers have ‘slightly lower’ degrees of … Continue reading Should teachers be prioritised for the Covid vaccine?
The good news on unemployment
What’s happening in the labour market is arguably the most important economic news every month. Despite that, the quality of the commentary is often poor, with many sources apparently too keen to focus on the negatives. The reactions to the latest release from the ONS provide more examples. The early headlines were dominated by the … Continue reading The good news on unemployment
More state intervention is not the answer to reviving our economy
Many people argue that the Covid crisis has demonstrated the need for government to take a bigger role in the economy, in good times as well as bad. When asked to suggest five policies to help the recovery their ‘wish lists’ are therefore full of ways in which the state could do even more. In … Continue reading More state intervention is not the answer to reviving our economy
Plain-speaking Economics 