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 …
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 …
In recent weeks, the Pound Sterling has fallen – losing value against the dollar and other currencies. This year, the Pound has fallen over 16% against the dollar and 7% on a trade-weighted index. In Summary A falling Pound makes: UK imports become more expensive and UK exports more competitive. A falling Pound tends to …
As the chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was announcing his radical budget of energy bailout, and tax cuts for corporations and high-income earners, the markets took a dim view. Sterling fell and bond yields on government debt rose as investors sold UK bonds in response to the deteriorating outlook. Uniquely for such a large change of …
The UK government faces a perilous situation. In the short-term, there is a combined threat of an energy crisis, high inflation, risk of an imminent recession and a falling value of Sterling. On top of that, there are long-term problems such as climate change, a slowdown in growth and productivity, and rising debt to GDP. …
Trickle down economics is a term used to describe the belief that if high-income earners gain an increase in salary, then everyone in the economy will benefit as their increased income and wealth filter through to all sections in society. How the trickle-down effect may work in theory If the richest gain an increase in …
An examination of UK house price affordability. UK House price to earnings ratios (all buyers) reached a peak in 2022. Above the 2009 peak, which preceded the housing price falls. The house price to earnings ratio is most extreme in London, with the ratio reaching 11 times salary. Housing prices in the North, Scotland and …