After the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, western countries imposed a series of sanctions on Russia. Some claimed this would cripple Russian economy and led to a deep recession. But, the Russian economy seemed to shrug this off growing at 3.6% in 2023 making it own of the fastest growing economies in the G20. And …
Recently the ONS produced a long-term forecast for spending and taxation. It makes for grim reading. Assuming policy doesn’t change, they forecast UK debt will rise to levels last seen in the Napoleonic Wars. This forecast also assumes there are no external shocks like Covid or the Ukraine war. At the same time, bond investors …
Is American Economy Now Set to Decline?Watch this video on YouTube The US economy has been outperforming the rest of the world. It has left the European economy in the dust. In the 1990s with everyone buying a Sony Walkman, it was Japan which was going to overtake the US, but it never did. The …
The Australian economy is unique. 35% of the country is practically desert and geographically it is isolated. 98% of its trade is exported by sea. Yet, it has become one of the richest countries in the world. Richer than the UK, France and Germany. From 1991 to 2020, it experienced the world record for the …
How Short-Termism Is Destroying the UK’s FutureWatch this video on YouTube Back in 2010, when Nick Clegg was asked about nuclear power he said it was pointless because it wouldn’t be ready until 2022. As it happened, 2022 came and went, with an unprecedented surge in global energy prices. Although this was ironic bad luck, …
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 …
Ireland can lay claim to be the third richest country in the world. In the 1970s, Ireland was one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, largely agrarian and with real incomes that lagged its neighbour across the Irish Sea. But, then over the next few decades, the Irish economy started to grow faster than …
The current account on the balance of payments measures the inflow and outflow of goods, services, investment incomes and transfer payments. The main components of the current account are: Trade in goods (visible balance) Trade in services (invisible balance), e.g. insurance and services Primary income account – includes – compensation of employees, investment income from …