When I was young (let say the 1980s) a Pound shop was a bit of a novelty. Visiting Morecambe, a seaside resort, there would be one or two Pound shops. I only remember being struck how low quality everything was, they were a bit tacky, mainly some useless novelty items and a stick of Blackpool …
Readers question: Would Independent Scotland be better with the Pound, Euro or an independent currency? What are the risks for each scenario? Scotland using the Euro If Scotland use the Euro there will be some benefits from having a shared currency with the rest of the Eurozone. Scottish business and personal users will have lower …
I have quite a few readers in India, so I’d like to have a brief look at the Indian economy and it’s prospects for the coming year. After spending so much time looking at the (rather depressing) economics of austerity in Europe and UK, it makes a welcome change to look at a developing economy …
After faltering for several years, the UK economy shows signs of real recovery, with rising spending, investment, exports and even manufacturing growth. At the start of 2014, there seems to be a virtuous circle of falling unemployment, falling inflation, and rising GDP. After one of the longest and deepest recessions on record, these signs of …
Readers Question: “As for the argument that China can always use its foreign exchange (forex) reserves to provide further stimulus to prop up the economy, the people who purport this have little knowledge of basic economics. If China were to use substantial forex reserves in this way, it would become a large net-seller of U.S. …
A debt default means the US is unable to pay back US bond holders the full value of their bonds. If investors lost money from US Treasuries, it would cause widespread financial panic, leading to a fall in bank lending, rising bond yields, a fall in the value of the dollar and the possibility of …
Readers Question: what are the policies that UK are using for the recovery of its economy? Since 2010, it is has seemed the government doesn’t really have a policy for economic recovery. The burden of recovery has fallen more on the Bank of England and monetary policy. – zero interest rates, quantitative easing, and allowing …
When interest rates were cut to 0.5% in March 2009, few would have expected them to remain at 0.5 until the present time. Yet, we have seen an unprecedented period of zero interest rates. There is much speculation about: When interest rates will rise? How much will interest rates to increase to? What will be …