A look at the economic impact of falling house prices. Readers Question: Explain why a decrease in the price of houses can lead the economy to experience a recession. In summary: falling house prices reduce consumers’ main form of wealth. This tends to cause lower spending and lower economic growth due to a negative wealth …
Britain is facing a chronic backlog in many public services. This includes record NHS waiting lists, a shortage of housing, delays in the criminal system, and a surge in unprocessed asylum requests. On top of this, there is a cost of living crisis, falling real wages and the highest level of strikes this century. It …
In September, the Pound plunged to its lowest level on record reaching a low of 1.03 during a day’s trading. The markets were spooked by the government’s unfunded tax cuts and likely £190 bn budget deficit. Investors viewed the Kwarteng/Truss budget as the shortest suicide note in history. Investors sold Sterling and UK bonds, creating …
Earlier this summer the Bank of England warned that the UK was heading into the deepest recession in a generation. Yesterday the Bank of England warned the UK was in the longest recession in a generation – a double gloomy prognosis to go with their record-breaking rise in interest rates by 75 basis points from …
Since the great financial crash of 2007, the UK economy has struggled. Although the past 15 years have been challenging from a global perspective, compared to many international competitors, the UK has slipped behind. Economic growth before global financial crisis of 2007-09 was 2.7%, the new normal is now closer to just 1.5% and with …
The recent surge in UK government gilts is a warning that unfunded tax cuts in a time of high inflation can cause markets to sell off UK bonds and make it harder to finance future government borrowing. After 15 years of ultra-low interest rates and little concern about rising debt, it is a reminder that …
On Friday 23 September Kwasi Kwarteng the new chancellor introduced a set of tax cuts and energy price guarantees in a measure the treasury described as a ‘fiscal event.’ Yet even as he was reading out his series of unprecedented tax cuts (as share of GDP, 2nd biggest on record), markets took fright, causing the …
Interest rates are a tool of monetary policy. When the economy is overheating, the Central Bank can raise interest rates to cool demand and avoid an inflationary boom. In an ideal world, the Central Bank would make small adjustments in interest rates to fine-tune the economy and avoid booms and busts, but the situation the …