Economist, Visiting Professor, Lecturer, Writer, Public Speaker.
Rachel Reeves’s budget statement in response to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) update aligned with what was widely flagged ahead of the event. However, it highlighted just how little room there is for manoeuvre in the government’s fiscal projections and how vulnerable the plans are to unfolding events. Admittedly, huge geopolitical and geoeconomic changes …
Continue reading “UK Spring statement 2025: little room for manoeuvre”
This is the first Labour Budget since 2010, and the first by a woman in UK history. It is aimed at raising economic growth in the long run, funded by tax rises and increased borrowing in the short term. The tax rises mainly came from employers’ National Insurance contributions and employers’ contributions to pensions, which …
Continue reading “Immediate reaction to the October Budget, 2024”
Nothing announced in the Budget on Wednesday was a surprise because it was all leaked in advance. But that did not make it any less surprising in one regard: the lack of any bold action to deal with the economic challenges facing the UK of an aging population, poor productivity, the need to reform the …
Continue reading “A political budget – one for the short term economically not the long”