Including thoughts on the Budget, government bond yields, the folly of reopening the Brexit debate, some better news on UK growth, the OBR 15 years on, and Zack Polanski’s grasp of basic economics... Theme of the Week Labour sources are suggesting that the new Chancellor, John Healey, is set to delay ‘difficult choices’ with a … Continue reading Weekly wrap – Budget fears might ease, but Brexit uncertainty is back
Category: Budget
Why raising the personal allowance would be the wrong tax cut
A large increase in the personal allowance would not be a good way to cut taxes, whether the goal is to boost economic growth or to help the poor, and regardless of how it would be financed. There is now remarkably broad support for a large rise in the standard Personal Allowance (PA), which is … Continue reading Why raising the personal allowance would be the wrong tax cut
What to make of the new OECD forecasts
The OECD is not really in the forecasting business and its projections are no more interesting than any others. But the consistent policy messages from the OECD and IMF might carry more weight. Frankly, my advice is to ignore the latest OECD projections - they don’t tell us anything that we don’t already know, and … Continue reading What to make of the new OECD forecasts
Six questions and answers on the new UK productivity data
New ONS analysis shows that UK productivity has held up much better than previously thought. Here’s a quick Q&A including what this could mean for the Budget, and what it is telling us about Brexit... This week the ONS published new analysis of the key measure of labour productivity, namely output per hour worked. This … Continue reading Six questions and answers on the new UK productivity data
