I often come across ‘zombie statistics’ for my collection of ‘bad Brexit takes’. Here’s a classic example for those not familiar with the genre. This week the Guardian published an article by Polly Toynbee which included the claim that “the Office for National Statistics says Brexit cost the UK £1m an hour in 2022”. This … Continue reading Project Rejoin’s ‘zombie statistics’ are doing no-one any favours
Tag: GDP
Is Britain really fated for economic decline?
Another day, another flurry of bad news on the fallout from October’s Budget. The BDO Monthly Business Trends indices - which pull together the results of all the main UK business surveys – show that confidence has fallen to the lowest level in almost two years, with output and employment down, and only inflation up. … Continue reading Is Britain really fated for economic decline?
More pain to come as Budget measures bite
The jump in inflation in October was not a big surprise after the 10% increase in household fuel bills, but the cost-of-living crisis will worsen before it gets better. Most commentators expect the measures in last month’s Budget to add to inflation next year, as businesses pass on the costs of the large increases in … Continue reading More pain to come as Budget measures bite
Five ways in which the Budget could unravel
Rachel Reeves’ first Budget was not all bad (see my response on the day here). For a start, the new fiscal rules, while still flawed, are an improvement on what went before. Balancing day-to-day spending with current tax revenue makes good economic sense, as does tweaking the targeted measure of debt to take more account … Continue reading Five ways in which the Budget could unravel
Plain-speaking Economics 