On Thursday the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the government’s independent fiscal watchdog, published its latest annual report on the long-term sustainability of the public finances and the fiscal risks facing the UK. This made for grim reading, as these reports always do. But this time, the report has been widely interpreted as a warning … Continue reading Is the OBR right to warn against tax cuts?
Tag: investment
How the Remainer media get Brexit wrong – and why this matters
It has taken six years since the vote to the leave the EU, but I have finally lost the last of my patience with how (most of) the press is covering the economic impact of Brexit. Here are three of many examples from the last few days alone. First, on Thursday the ONS published new … Continue reading How the Remainer media get Brexit wrong – and why this matters
Tough times ahead, but Britain is still doing better than the EU
It is astonishing how many people are willing to claim that the UK would not be facing a cost of living crisis if Brexit had not happened, or if the Tories were not in power, and that the Chancellor has done nothing to help. This is – to use a technical economics term – cobblers. … Continue reading Tough times ahead, but Britain is still doing better than the EU
Some French lessons for Rishi Sunak
Here’s something you might not expect to read: ‘chapeau’ to the French economy, which has been one of Europe’s star performers since the pandemic. But what, if anything, can we in the UK learn from this? First, some numbers. The French economy has bounced back relatively quickly. GDP was about one per cent higher in … Continue reading Some French lessons for Rishi Sunak
Plain-speaking Economics 