Inflation is generally controlled by the Central Bank and/or the government. The main policy used is monetary policy (changing interest rates). However, in theory, there are a variety of tools to control inflation including: Monetary policy – Higher interest rates reduce demand in the economy, leading to lower economic growth and lower inflation. Control of …
The best guide to US elections is the state of the economy. If the economy is doing badly with high unemployment and/or higher inflation. The party of the sitting US president tends to get punished by the voters. But, how much influence does the President have on the economy and the rate of inflation? In …
In 2022, the UK economy is struggling with very weak economic growth and one of the highest inflation rates in the OECD. Some of these problems can be attributed to global short-term problems, in particular recovery from Covid lockdowns and rising oil prices which have caused the worst cost-push inflation since the 1970s. However, short-term …
Readers Question: How important is the budget deficit? The budget deficit is the annual amount the government borrow. The government usually financed the budget deficit by selling bonds to the private sector To libertarian and free-market economists, budget deficits are liable to cause significant economic problems – crowding out of the private sector, higher interest …
The latest stats for UK net migration show annual net migration of 239,000 (Q1 2022). This used to be roughly split between EU and non-EU migrants. But, since Brexit, there has been a big change with 437,000 immigrants from Non-Eu and 195,000 from the EU. In Q1 of 2020, there were 437,000 annual immigration from …
The budget deficit is the annual amount the government has to borrow to meet the shortfall between current receipts (tax) and government spending. Net borrowing for the UK 2021/11 is £151.8bn or 14.8% of GDP [OBR – J511] National debt or public sector net debt – is the total amount the government owes – accumulated …