With a bit of luck, the Bank of England will not have to raise interest rates much further. Nonetheless, borrowers are still paying the price for years of government policy failures. The Bank of England’s decision to raise interest rates by a quarter point, to 4%, is an insurance hike to get ahead of the … Continue reading MPC had to take out an ‘insurance’ hike
Tag: government borrowing
Seven things to watch for in the Budget
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
The ‘missing’ trillion-pound UK sovereign wealth fund is pure fantasy
Hopefully, whoever suggested the line about a ‘trillion-pound wealth fund’ to the person in charge of the UK's public finances will be suitably embarrassed by now. But I suspect not. One of the Burnham government’s most rational decisions so far has been to green light production from the Jackdaw gas field. The UK will need … Continue reading The ‘missing’ trillion-pound UK sovereign wealth fund is pure fantasy
Why raising the personal allowance would be the wrong tax cut
A large increase in the personal allowance would not be a good way to cut taxes, whether the goal is to boost economic growth or to help the poor, and regardless of how it would be financed. There is now remarkably broad support for a large rise in the standard Personal Allowance (PA), which is … Continue reading Why raising the personal allowance would be the wrong tax cut
