Economist, Visiting Professor, Lecturer, Writer, Public Speaker.
What do Russian oligarchs, the selling of UK companies to foreign investors and the slide in the pound all have in common? The answer is they all help to fund the UK’s growing current account deficit. And it is indeed widening. In Q1 2022, the UK’s trade deficit was £33.4bn, and the current account deficit …
Continue reading “Why the UK current account deficit matters”
As a wit once said, forecasting is extremely difficult, especially about the future. With good reason, as some events occur only once in a century. Yet, we’ve had two of those ‘black swan’ type of events in the last ten years. So, this is not attempting to forecast what will occur this year; it is …
Continue reading “A look ahead to what 2022 may bring – turbulence”
Although I hate being a Jeremiah, some things are worth worrying about. The UK’s potential energy position over the winter is very vulnerable to a crisis, especially if the weather is colder than average. Although long-run forecasts suggest the winter is likely to be wetter than usual rather than colder than usual (at least compared …