Category: Brexit

Rachel Reeves gambles on a ‘make do and break promises’ Budget

After months of damaging speculation, the Chancellor delivered yet another ‘tax and spend’ Budget which will do little to tackle any of the UK’s deep-rooted economic problems. The Chancellor’s biggest challenge was to persuade enough people that she will not just be coming back again for more next year. Only time will tell whether this … Continue reading Rachel Reeves gambles on a ‘make do and break promises’ Budget →

What the NBER got wrong on the ‘Economic Impact of Brexit’

I’ve finally found time to review the NBER Working Paper which claims that Brexit has reduced UK GDP by as much as 8% since the vote to leave in 2016. As Martin Wolf writes in today’s Financial Times, “if this is even roughly correct, Brexit has been nothing short of an economic disaster”. But I think … Continue reading What the NBER got wrong on the ‘Economic Impact of Brexit’ →

November Budget needs to be big and bold

A year ago, the Chancellor promised that the £40 billion of tax increases announced in her first Budget would be a “one-off”. But it is now almost certain that her second Budget next month will deliver more of the same. What’s gone wrong? The technical answer is that OBR is expected to predict that the … Continue reading November Budget needs to be big and bold →