After the housing crash of 2009, many houses were bought at discount prices by buy to let landlords, and the share of buy to let rose to a record share of the market. But, 2016 was a turning point, with government legislation imposing higher tax rates on landlords in an effort to reverse declining home-ownership …
The UK is experiencing record levels of immigration and although it will fall a little in coming years, it will still be a record decade for immigration. The big question is why are immigration levels so high, how will it affect the economy and can the housing market cope with such a rise in the …
Home repossession – when banks take homes back into their own ownership, Mortgage arrears – when mortgage holders fall behind in their mortgage payments, but not necessarily leading to repossession Home reposessions reached a peak in 1991 with 75,000. This was an era of interest rates of 15%. At a time when most people had …
Reader’s Question: Why does printing money cause inflation? Does this always occur? Summary If the money supply increases faster than output then, ceteris paribus, inflation will occur. If a government prints extra money, households will have more cash and more money to spend on goods. But, if the amount of goods stays the same, the …
Is Buy to Let Sector in Terminal Decline?Watch this video on YouTube From the mid 1990s, the buy-to-let sector saw impressive growth. By 2016, 2 million individuals owned a buy to let property. But, recent events have seen a sharp decline in buy-to-let mortgage lending. It is shrinking as a share of the market …
The US is one of the richest economies in the world – with the 7th highest real GDP per capita. Not only that but the economy is booming with much higher rates of economic growth than elsewhere. However, in the real world, there is a disconnect, despite the undoubted wealth of America, many Americans feel …
After a sharp increase in the 1980s, income inequality appears to have slightly improved in recent years. However, this general measure of inequality fails to capture many of the increasing divides across the country. Whilst the income share of the top 1% has grown, the poorest 10% have faced falling living standards in a cost-of-living …
Is the Argentina Economy Doomed to Fail? Watch this video on YouTube In the past 65 years, Argentina has defaulted on debt five times. It has the highest rate of inflation in the world, and the devaluation in the Peso makes it one of the worst-performing currencies. Now its beleaguered citizens are facing higher prices …