Speculation that Liz Truss is about to make to return to frontline politics has prompted a flurry of dodgy claims and daft statistics about the economic cost of last September’s mini-Budget. Here's a quick debunking of the most common. I’ll start with the biggest number: £74 billion (sometimes cited as £73 billion). This appears to … Continue reading Did the Truss/Kwarteng mini-Budget really cost the country £ [insert gigantic number here] billion?
Tag: NICs
Weak consumer confidence doesn’t necessarily signal recession
If you believe the media coverage of the latest consumer confidence surveys, household spending is set to collapse under the weight of the cost of living crisis, dragging the UK economy into a deep recession. But how reliable are these signals? As always, it is worth digging past the headlines. The GfK measure of consumer … Continue reading Weak consumer confidence doesn’t necessarily signal recession
Put April’s tax rises on hold and let growth fix the public finances
First, the bad news. UK consumer price inflation has already hit 5.1pc in the 12 months to November. And it is likely to rise further in the coming months as businesses pass on more of the price pressure that is already in the pipeline. In particular, the energy regulator Ofgem is reviewing its cap on … Continue reading Put April’s tax rises on hold and let growth fix the public finances
Plain-speaking Economics 