Readers Question: Is there any other political influence on the falling rate of sterling, something like monetary policy or political uncertainty? And why did some news reports say inflation and weak sterling could be helpful to UK economy? Thanks. The value of a currency is primarily influenced by economic factors. E.g. weak sterling can be …
Readers Question: Actually, I would like to know if the current UK’s recession is caused whether economic policies which have been practised or the UK has been affected from outside the country? The recession is caused by a mixture of domestic and international factors. For more detailed explanation see: Economic crisis explained Who is to …
Readers Question: Greece has a current account deficit of almost 14% (!) of GDP and Greece is a member of the EU. How can it resolve the problem if it cannot devalue the currency ( the quick way out, which was used in the past when the greek drachma was around) and when productivity is …
It is difficult to predict the dollar because there are few different factors pulling the dollar in different directions. Firstly, the dollar has been surprisingly resilient since the US slipped into its worst recession and US interest rates tumbled to near 0%. The resilience of the dollar is not based on economic fundamentals but, a …
Readers Question: we say that higher fiscal spending leads to higher economic growth but does this negative public saving also not lower investments hence lowering future growth opportunity? so is the current growth stimulus at a cost of future growth? Cutting taxes and boosting spending will lead to higher borrowing. This will hopefully boost aggregate …
Readers Question: Could deflation lead to devaluation of the UK Pound? Deflation in the UK means prices fall. This hasn’t happened since the 1930s, but, if it did happen, it could lead to a further depreciation in Pound Sterling. Firstly, deflation would mean interest rates would likely fall to 0%. This fall in interest rates …
Readers Question: What credit can the adoption of central bank independence take for the relative stability of the UK business cycle since 1997? The MPC, Bank of England, are responsible for setting interest rates and determining UK monetary policy. They seek to keep inflation close to the government’s target of CPI 2% +/-1 % Between …
Readers Question: i was wondering if u could give me some insight on how these macroeconomic factors will affect household consumption in 2008/2009. thanks Consumer Spending in the UK This graph shows the strong correlation between consumer spending and economic growth. Since 2005, consumer spending has continued to increase at an average of about 3% …