Including thoughts on the OBR’s new forecasts and old Brexit assumptions, PuFIns, bank ‘windfall’ taxes, youth minimum wages, and why we actually need a ‘do some real good’ Budget. John Healey will probably be aiming for a low-key ‘first do no harm’ Budget: a few treats for households and businesses, with no nasty surprises for … Continue reading Seven things to watch for in the Budget
Category: productivity
Weekly wrap – Government policies continue to do more harm than good
Including thoughts on the “productivity puzzle”, bond yields, monetary policy credibility, and how the government’s clumsy interventions are still costing jobs and adding to rental inflation... Theme of the Week This week’s most interesting economic story was worth a piece of its own: “Six questions and answers on the new productivity data”. In short, the … Continue reading Weekly wrap – Government policies continue to do more harm than good
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
Weekly wrap – Has the UK economy really “turned the corner”?
Including thoughts on UK GDP, “rocket and feather” pricing at the pumps, should the BoE follow the ECB, US bond market intervention, German defence spending, and the latest UK evidence on “second round” effects... Theme of the Week The reassuringly strong GDP data added to evidence that the UK economy is holding up better than … Continue reading Weekly wrap – Has the UK economy really “turned the corner”?
