The OECD is not really in the forecasting business and its projections are no more interesting than any others. But the consistent policy messages from the OECD and IMF might carry more weight. Frankly, my advice is to ignore the latest OECD projections - they don’t tell us anything that we don’t already know, and … Continue reading What to make of the new OECD forecasts
Tag: news
Six questions and answers on the new UK productivity data
New ONS analysis shows that UK productivity has held up much better than previously thought. Here’s a quick Q&A including what this could mean for the Budget, and what it is telling us about Brexit... This week the ONS published new analysis of the key measure of labour productivity, namely output per hour worked. This … Continue reading Six questions and answers on the new UK productivity data
Six takeaways from John Healey’s “Growth Speech”
The Chancellor’s speech had some positives as well as negatives, and perhaps revealed something about interdepartmental rivalries too. But the chasm between rhetoric and reality seems as wide as ever. Six points struck me about John Healey’s first major speech as Chancellor on Monday. The first was that he was giving it all. This is not … Continue reading Six takeaways from John Healey’s “Growth Speech”
Expensive energy, not Brexit, explains why Britain is stagnating
UK industry has struggled for years under the burden of relatively high electricity costs The stream of bad news about energy shows no sign of ending. Last month the regulator Ofgem confirmed that the cap on domestic bills will rise by another 4% in October, despite the temporary removal of VAT from the cost of … Continue reading Expensive energy, not Brexit, explains why Britain is stagnating
