Here are the slides from a presentation I gave at the IEA today on the slowdown in productivity growth in the UK and other major economies since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 - aka the 'productivity puzzle'. It concludes with some proposed solutions in the Classical Liberal tradition... Classical Liberal solutions to the productivity … Continue reading Classical Liberal solutions to the productivity puzzle
Tag: energy prices
Can Rachel Reeves get growth back on track?
The Chancellor’s big growth speech on Wednesday morning was so widely trailed that it contained few surprises. But it was still the clearest and most coherent statement of her economic philosophy and plans, so far. Before diving into the detail, it is only fair to welcome the change of tone. It has been refreshing to … Continue reading Can Rachel Reeves get growth back on track?
What’s gone wrong in Germany?
The German economy is stagnating. Last year was bad enough. The first official estimates suggest that output (measured by GDP) shrank by 0.3 per cent over 2023 as a whole – a full year recession – with output also down by 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter alone. Unfortunately, the omens for 2024 are … Continue reading What’s gone wrong in Germany?
UK food price inflation set to fall sharply
First, the bad news. The lowlight of the latest UK inflation data was that the consumer price (CPI) measure of food price inflation jumped even further in March – to 19.1%. This contributed about 2.2 percentage points to the overall inflation rate of 10.1%. With ‘core’ inflation still stubbornly high (over 6%), food price inflation … Continue reading UK food price inflation set to fall sharply
Plain-speaking Economics 