A recent report by the Bank of England made for grim reading. UK Output is forecast to fall and inflation is predicted to rise to a level not seen since the early 1980s. The UK like many economies is facing short-term pressures – rising energy prices, supply shortages and slowing growth. But, the malaise of …
The EU relies heavily on Russia for the import of natural gas – around 40% of all natural gas at the start of 2022. Since June 2021, there has been a 60% cut in Russian gas, and this has caused considerable distress in the form of higher prices, inflation, lower economic growth and potentially devastating …
A recession is a period with a significant decline in economic activity characterised by falling GDP, rising unemployment and a decline in real incomes. A quick and simple definition of a recession (used in the UK and EU) is – negative economic growth for two consecutive quarters. The US uses a more comprehensive definition of …
When I started teaching economics in the early 2000s, I remember quite a few commentators predicting imminent house price falls because house prices were overvalued by historical trends, I used to occasional dip into house price crash forums to see a debate about when prices would fall. Yet, since 2000, even accounting for the financial …
Latest UK housing market stats and graphs. Including house prices, Price to income ratios and construction of new housing.
Huge volumes of waste are sent to landfill every year. In 2018, the US created 292.4 millions tons of trash, of which nearly half 146 million tons ended in landfill. In recent years, much effort has gone into encouraging people to recycle, and rates of recycling have increased significantly (in the US from 9% (1980) …
Higher interest rates increase the cost of borrowing, reduce disposable income and therefore limit the growth in consumer spending. Higher interest rates tend to reduce inflationary pressures and cause an appreciation in the exchange rate. Higher interest rates have various economic effects: Effect of higher interest rates Increases the cost of borrowing. With higher interest …
Readers Question: As the cause of inflation to a large part is down to energy costs, if they are temporary, will we see large deflation if we see a return to something close to ‘normal’? Typically deflation would be a bad thing, but in this case would it be? Firstly, you are correct a large …