As a general rule, I try to avoid politics. But, this summer has not been your typical British summer. Yes, the weather has been typically wet and miserable, but the political and economic climate has changed at a speed, not even found in a Jeffrey Archer novel. I started the referendum campaign a somewhat reluctant …
Readers question: Is there anything in economic theory that addresses what I would like to call “economic abuse” Where the profit of a what a worker does is ten to a hundred times what the worker earns to the Owner or Individual paying the worker. The worker earns $10 a day doing labour that the …
Given levels of UK national debt and forecasts for rises in government debt, what are the prospects for a UK debt default? The UK has had higher levels of national debt after the First and Second World War Bond Yields Bond yields on UK government gilts are reasonable and don’t predict any default. In fact …
Readers Question: would you be able to comment on what the Labour party’s latest proposal to break up the banks to create competition? I can see some reasons that relate to safe guarding possible failures of large banks which can prove costly if the government are needed to bail them out. However, in terms of …
Readers Question: I have recently read an article stating that “a country has only four options for getting out of a financial crisis: devalue, inflate, default, or deflate”… Would you be so kind to explain what these options comprehend?? Firstly, when people refer to a financial crisis they could refer to different economic problems. Recession …
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 …
When President Holland was elected in the summer, he suggested that Europe would turn against austerity and promote economic recovery as the most important objective. However, despite his early promises, the French budget is strongly deflationary. Given the state of the current French and Eurozone economy, this budget is likely to push France into prolonged …
What are the key issues affecting the UK economy over the next few years? Recession and Recovery The biggest problem facing the UK economy is the lack of economic recovery. After a fall in GDP of 6% in 2008/09, the economy briefly recovered, but the recent double dip recession of 2012 has left the UK …