I recently submitted some written evidence (or at least some opinions!) to the Treasury Select Committee’s new inquiry reflecting on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) first 15 years. In case of wider interest, I have pasted the text below (in the format requested by the Committee). Written evidence to the Treasury Select Committee Submitted by … Continue reading “The OBR: 15 years on”
Tag: finance
Is the UK economy “turning the corner”?
The past week was packed with new data releases which sent some mixed signals on the health of the UK economy and the prospects for 2026. This note takes stock. The most encouraging news came from the latest S&P Global Flash UK PMI Composite Output Index, which jumped to 53.9 in January from 51.4 in December. … Continue reading Is the UK economy “turning the corner”?
What to make of the latest UK GDP data
It is great to be able to start with some good news… The 0.3% growth in the UK economy in November was a bit better than consensus expectations of around 0.1%, with some favourable revisions to previous data as well. The detail showed that the bounce in November was driven in part by a rebound in car … Continue reading What to make of the latest UK GDP data
Why Labour shouldn’t try to claim credit for the FTSE’s record highs
A couple of weeks ago, the Chancellor was widely criticised for calling the FTSE 100’s climb past 10,000 a “vote of confidence in Britain’s economy”. As many commentators pointed out at the time (including myself), the FTSE 100 is dominated by large global companies, while the more domestically focused FTSE 250 has underperformed. I would … Continue reading Why Labour shouldn’t try to claim credit for the FTSE’s record highs
Plain-speaking Economics 