1970s – The Decade That Nearly BROKE BritainWatch this video on YouTube Rubbish piled on the streets, record levels of strikes, an IMF bailout and runaway inflation. The 1970s has gone down in the popular imagination as a dark time, literally in the case of the 3-day week, when lights were turned off, but …
It’s not been a good week for the UK economy with the Bank of England downgrading economic growth and upgrading inflation forecasts. We’re heading for stagflation, the worst of both worlds. If you wanted more bad news, the Bank of England warned that productivity growth may actually be even worse than the pretty dismal statistics …
One of the most common questions asked is, who owns UK National Debt? Often people assume that UK government debt is owned by foreign investors. However, foreign investors only hold about 25-30% of UK government debt. The rest is held by the UK private sector (pension funds, insurance companies e.t.c). Recently, the Bank of England …
In 1913, Britain was the largest trading nation in the world. 50% of global capital investment came from London. It was an economic powerhouse which defied its small size. But, in the past 100 years, the pound has devalued and the UK has seen a steady decline in relative importance. Some of this was inevitable, …
Black Wednesday refers to the date 16 September 1992, when the UK was forced out of the ERM. The Exchange rate mechanism was a key policy tool for the Conservative government. The logic of joining the ERM was that the chancellor Nigel Lawson believed that being in a fixed exchange rate Would help to reduce …
Inflation in the UK rose to a 40 year record of 11.1% in Nov 2022 – why is inflation so high and will it come down soon? The last time inflation was so high was in 1981. But, inflation of the 1980s was different in that at least wages were keeping up with inflation. Now …
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 …
The UK voted to leave the EU in May 2016. It formally left the EU on 31 January 2020. The transition period ended on 31 January 2021. At this time, UK trade with the EU is subject to new paperwork, customs checks and import duties. The impact of Brexit has been made uncertain due to …