In 2012, the EU introduced a new form of its growth and stability pact. The main rules for EU fiscal policy are: Total Government debt must not be more than 60% of gross domestic product; The Government deficit must not be more than 3% of GDP except in particular circumstances. (Source: EU, Current EU rules) …
Readers Question: Is it possible to have negative interest rates? Negative interest rates occur when a bank charges you money for the privilege of looking after your savings. It is possible to have a negative interest rate (e.g. -0.5%) Although it is quite rare. The Bank of England have recently talked about the possibility of …
Welfare spending in the UK is a controversial topic. There is significant political and public concern at the growth of welfare spending in the past few decades. In particular, there is a fear that the growth of the welfare state is encouraging a ‘dependency culture’. But, how much has welfare spending actually increased by? Are …
We tend to consider the impact of immigration on our own country. – How do immigrants affect UK unemployment? UK housing? UK labour markets? and GDP (e.g. economic impact of immigration). However, the flip side of the coin, is how does migration affect developing economies? Recently, the World Bank reported that migrants working in developed …
Readers question: What will happen if the UK has its credit rating reduced from AAA to AA? Do you remember all those sub-prime mortgage bundles which caused the credit crisis? These mortgage bundles which later proved to be almost worthless were, for a considerable period, given a AAA credit rating by rating agencies. Even Greece, …
This graph illustrates some of the different causes of the US budget deficit. Source: CBO estimates 2012 | via Krugman This shows how the deficit has been affected by certain issues. Cyclical factors Cyclical spending and lost tax revenues due to recession. Expansionary fiscal policy (economic recovery measures) Financial intervention to bailout banks and financial …
The Euro started Jan 1999 EMU involves Replacement of National currencies by the EURO Same Monetary Policy – Since “One Money” implies uniform interest rates Exchange Rates within the Euro area will cease to exist By mid 2002 national currencies will cease to be legal tender Pre Launch Blues Expectations about Inflation helped reduce actual …
In 2009, US and EU unemployment rates both stood at 10% – but since then EU unemployment has increased to 12% and US unemployment fallen to 7.9%. (see: US v EU unemployment) These contrasting fortunes in unemployment are a reflection of diverging rates of economic growth. Whilst, Europe has entered a double dip recession, the …