Bank of England base rate on hold, but cuts could be coming sooner than it forecasts

As expected, the Bank of England left interest rates on hold at its November quarterly meeting. Three members were still calling for rate hikes of a ¼ of one per cent even though the Bank of England lowered its forecast for GDP growth in 2024 from half a per cent to zero and its forecast …

A rerun of 2008 or a ‘Storm in a Teacup’?

Global financial markets are seeing the most significant banking market-driven turmoil since 2008/9, the first bank failures in the US since Washington Mutual in 2008 and a sharp fall in bank stocks. US monetary authorities reacted quickly, injecting liquidity, and guaranteeing deposits. But bank stocks around the world are generally lower than they were before …

Minding the gap – UK rewards to labour and capital differ significantly

Chart C - Poor wage growth is an international

Last week saw the release of labour market data for the UK. It showed: unemployment at a 1975 low of 4% employment at an all-time high since data was collated on this basis in 1971, at 75.2% of the labour force, and wage inflation rising at its fastest nominal pace since 2008, up 3.4% including …