Iceland’s crisis was brutally severe. With a bloated current account deficit and bad debts, Iceland experienced a severe balance of payments crisis and banking losses. Iceland responded by: Not guaranteeing all banking debt. Many large banks failed and were seized by the government Allowing the currency to devalue by 50%. Imposed capital controls to prevent …
Welfare spending in the UK is a controversial topic. There is significant political and public concern at the growth of welfare spending in the past few decades. In particular, there is a fear that the growth of the welfare state is encouraging a ‘dependency culture’. But, how much has welfare spending actually increased by? Are …
When examining debt levels in the UK, there is government debt – measured by public sector borrowing (often referred to as National debt). See: UK National Debt. We also have private sector debt which is composed of personal loans, personal mortgages, business debts, and debts of the financial sector. Total Debt includes both private sector …
For the past few years, it has felt a bit repetitive always asking the same question – why can’t the EU policy makers see unemployment, social exclusion and rising poverty as the real challenge facing Europe? In the current climate it is not bond yields, inflation targets or levels of debt that are the real …
If you read any number of self-improvement books, you will come across ideas such as ‘what you think, you will become’. Over, 2,500 years ago, the Buddha said: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” When overused these positive thinking mantras …
Summary of UK Economy at the Start of 2013 The UK economy starts 2013 after one of the longest periods of economic stagnation on record. GDP has been flat for the past two years, and real GDP is still way below the 2008 peak. Despite the depressing picture of economic growth, unemployment (7.9%) is much …
Readers Question: In this era, Inflation had gotten really high specially in countries like Pakistan. Hows will the Inflation level go down ? or will it even let the country develop ? Inflation is one of the several problems that the Pakistan economy faces. The good news is that inflation has been falling in the …
Earlier in the year, many were speculating the Euro was a risk of breaking up. Up step Mario Draghi with his promise to ‘save the Euro whatever it takes’ Under Mario Draghi, the ECB have done two things to help reassure bond markets: Long term refinancing for banks – helping to avoid liquidity crisis in …