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?
Tag: bank of england
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
Bank of England needs to act now to tame the inflation tiger
It’s not often I agree with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but their latest warnings on the risks of inaction from the Bank of England could not have been more timely. The jump in consumer price inflation to 5.1 per cent in November has already taken it well above the figure of 4.5 per cent … Continue reading Bank of England needs to act now to tame the inflation tiger
Presentation on the economics of Covid
Here are the slides from a presentation I gave on 1st December 2021 to university students of economics... covid-presentation-dec-2021Download
Plain-speaking Economics 