At its February 2023 Monetary Policy meeting, the Bank of England signalled the peak in the Bank rate had been reached. What are the likely reasons for this? Ten interest rate hikes have taken the rate from 0.1% to 4%. The effect has been a housing market in sharp reverse, business failures beginning to rise, …
Has the Chancellor tightened policy too much?
Framed as a budget to shrink debt and control inflation, Jeremy Hunt’s statement in the fifth fiscal event of this year essentially left most of the heavy lifting to 2025 and beyond. Of the measures announced, some three quarters were spending cuts, and just one quarter were tax increases. Of the £61.7 billion fiscal tightening …
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Globalisation is not the cause of the pandemic
Since the appearance of COVID-19, there has been a massive decline in global trade. World Trade Organisation figures suggest that it could fall be about a third this year. But some context is required here. The reduction is taking place mainly due to the voluntary shutdown of the global economy to fight the Coronavirus. This …
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