In his Spring Statement speech the Chancellor made the eye-catching claim that ‘in the next financial year, we’re forecast to spend £83 billion on debt interest’. This £83 billion figure was widely understood to be the amount that the government would actually pay out in interest in 2022-23. This has prompted lots of unfavourable comparisons … Continue reading Is the UK government really about to spend £83 billion on debt interest?
Category: financial markets
What happens if Russia defaults?
The high probability that the Russian government will stop paying its international debts is well down the list of things to worry about as the tragedy in Ukraine unfolds. But this risk should certainly be somewhere on that list – as the fallout from past defaults has shown. We have been here several times before. … Continue reading What happens if Russia defaults?
Schools presentation on the economic outlook
Here are the slides from a talk I gave this lunchtime to sixth-form students interested in economics and finance... global-economic-overview-21-february-2022Download
Bank of England gets it right
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has decided that continued inaction this month in the face of soaring inflation would do far more damage in the longer term than a small increase in UK interest rates now. The Bank has also ended the expansionary phase of ‘quantitative easing’. The MPC voted to maintain the … Continue reading Bank of England gets it right
Plain-speaking Economics 