The financial markets are nervous. Investors are demanding a higher yield for holding UK government bonds (‘gilts’) and the pound has continued to slide against the US dollar. It is still too soon to talk of a ‘sterling crisis’. Nonetheless, the heightened political uncertainty and large current account deficit could make UK assets particularly vulnerable … Continue reading Liz Truss may need to act quickly to reassure the markets – but this won’t be ‘Black Wednesday’
Tag: interest rates
The Bank of England shouldn’t be above criticism
If you believe many of the comments in the broadcast media and from the City, Liz Truss is threatening to undermine the independence of the Bank of England and rip up a policy framework that has served us well for decades. One member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Michael Saunders, has already felt the … Continue reading The Bank of England shouldn’t be above criticism
Making the case for tax cuts
Everyone is supposed to have their 15 minutes of fame. Perhaps I have just had mine, after the contenders for the Tory leadership were invited to endorse the ‘Charter for tax cuts’ that I co-wrote for Conservative Way Forward. It was certainly pretty cool to be namechecked at the launch event on Monday both by … Continue reading Making the case for tax cuts
Bank of England falls further behind in race to tame inflation
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has raised interest rates by just a quarter point, to 1.25 per cent. This was the fifth increase in as many meetings, but still leaves rates near historic lows. In my view, this was a mistake. This decision is hard to square with April’s consumer price inflation … Continue reading Bank of England falls further behind in race to tame inflation
Plain-speaking Economics 