The Pension Schemes Bill (recently introduced for its second reading in Parliament) continues some sensible reforms which should tidy up the industry and boost returns for savers. However, these measures have been overshadowed by a pointless row over plans to direct more investment towards “private assets”. Most strikingly, in an interview with the Financial Times last Monday, the chief executive … Continue reading The Government should not be telling pension funds where to invest
Category: financial markets
Labour’s first year report – ‘tries hard, but results still poor’
One year on, the Labour government elected in July 2024 is claiming three big wins on the economy. Unfortunately, these are little to shout about. The first is the large increases in the National Minimum Wage (NMW). This simply maintained the last government's policy of raising the full NMW to two-thirds of median earnings and extending it … Continue reading Labour’s first year report – ‘tries hard, but results still poor’
UK Q1 GDP: as good as it gets?
The first official estimates suggest that the UK economy grew by 0.7% in the first quarter of the year, which was better than most had expected. GDP per head increased by a respectable 0.5%. On the bright side, this should trigger a wave of upward revisions to growth forecasts for 2025 as a whole. (I … Continue reading UK Q1 GDP: as good as it gets?
What to make of Trump’s tariffs?
Here are the slides from a presentation I gave today to sixth form students at a school in Reading. It features a discussion of the pros and (mostly) cons of the new US tariffs policy and concludes with a recommended book and a film for budding economists! What to make of Trump's tariffs (9 May … Continue reading What to make of Trump’s tariffs?
Plain-speaking Economics 