I’ve read some utter tosh on the state of the UK public finances in the last few days. Here is an attempt to correct some of the biggest misunderstandings. Most importantly, government debt does not have to be ‘repaid’, only serviced. As long as the government can meet the interest payments (I’ll come back to … Continue reading How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Debt
Tag: interest rates
How much should we worry about UK government debt?
Another month, another set of scary numbers on the public finances: the UK government borrowed an additional £36 billion in September and total public debt rose to £2,060 billion, or around 103.5% of national income (GDP). But there is still no need to panic. For a start, the figures are entirely as expected. If anything, … Continue reading How much should we worry about UK government debt?
The Bank of England should be thinking of raising rates, not cutting them
Almost all the commentary ahead of the Bank of England’s monetary policy meeting at the end of the month has focused on whether interest rates should be cut, or left on hold. In contrast, I would be itching to vote for a hike. There does at least appear to be an emerging consensus that the … Continue reading The Bank of England should be thinking of raising rates, not cutting them
Plain-speaking Economics 