Growth
No triple-dip: GDP up by 0.3%
The UK seems to have avoided a triple-dip recession. According to today’s estimate from the Office for National Statistics, the economy grew by 0.3 per cent in the first three… Continue reading
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Margaret Thatcher in six graphs
With the debate swirling about Margaret Thatcher’s legacy and her government’s record, it’s worth taking a look at what the cold, hard economic data has to say about her time… Continue reading
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Fag break Britain: four answers to Britain’s productivity puzzle
Jobs are being created in Britain, but the economy isn’t growing. In the last year, the number of people in work rose by 2 per cent, but economic output rose… Continue reading
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Worst recovery in history: British GDP shrinks by 0.3 per cent
Now we know why David Cameron delivered his Europe speech on Wednesday. It’s time for bad headlines again: the GDP figures just announced show that the British economy is contracting… Continue reading
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We’ve shown forecasts are unreliable, jokes OBR chief
‘We’ve done quite a good job at demonstrating the limitations of economic forecasting,’ half-joked Office for Budget Responsibility Chairman Robert Chote at the start of his Treasury Select Committee appearance… Continue reading
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Citi: Osborne “no longer has credible plans” to tackle debt
Britain will lose its AAA rating within 18 months because George Osborne ‘no longer has credible plans to put the debt/GDP ratio on a stable or declining path’ according to… Continue reading
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The Autumn Statement in 7 graphs
1. Growth evaporating. The Office for Budget Responsibility once again downgraded its growth forecasts for 2012-13 and, for the first time, also did so for 2014-16. Despite that, the OBR… Continue reading
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Autumn Statement: Downgrades R Us
How much trouble is George Osborne in? We don’t need to wait until his mini-Budget tomorrow, we already know most of it. And we’ll enter that peculiar Budget game, where… Continue reading
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More left the UK for work in the last year than came here for it
Net migration to the UK from April 2011 to March 2012 was 183,000, down by a quarter on 242,000 the year before. That’s the headline figure from today’s Office for… Continue reading
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The gap between what David Cameron says and what he does
David Cameron (and a host of other politicians, including Ed Miliband, Vince Cable and Boris Johnson) will address the CBI’s annual conference this morning. Cameron’s widely trailed speech is a… Continue reading
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Lord Heseltine blasts government’s growth strategy
Appointing Lord Heseltine to lead a review of the government’s growth plan was a risky decision as not only was he always going to say exactly what he thought, but… Continue reading
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‘Meeting? What meeting? I wasn’t there!’ Vince Cable forgets key growth committee
Business Secretary Vince Cable bewildered a select committee this morning by telling members that a new sub-committee, the Growth Implementation Committee, was yet to meet, before later backtracking and announcing… Continue reading
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Can Ed Balls leave his past behind?
A large part of the Tory message at the next election will be ‘don’t let Labour ruin the economy again’. One of the things that will help the Tories make… Continue reading
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When a growing economy still feels bad
David Cameron was right; the good news has kept on coming. This morning’s first estimate from the ONS puts GDP growth in the third quarter at 1.0 per cent. Cue… Continue reading
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IMF: Anatomy of a downgrade
Growth forecast downgrades should come as no surprise these days, but when they come from the IMF they naturally command a fair bit of attention. In fact, the IMF’s downgrades… Continue reading
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The poverty of economics
The IMF’s growth downgrades will make tomorrow’s newspaper headlines but the more striking point is its decision to massively rewrite British economic history. As Citi’s Michael Saunders notes (PDF), the… Continue reading
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Another growth plan falters
It seems that yet another coalition growth scheme is falling flat on its face: this time, Sir Mervyn King’s ‘Funding for Lending’ brainwave. The theory was that the Bank of… Continue reading
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‘Nobody likes being in coalition’
The coalition’s leaders like to stick to the line that the partnership is professional and business-like when they describe how policy is made. Newly-appointed business minister Michael Fallon struck a… Continue reading
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The coalition’s growth bargain
The contents of the coalition’s grand bargain on growth will become clearer this week. On Monday, Michael Fallon will announce plans to scrap half of all existing regulation, and then… Continue reading
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The exciting new sub-committee on the block
Downing Street is very keen to emphasise that the key theme of this reshuffle is ‘implementation’. It’s an exciting word, I know, but the excitement has just ratcheted up a… Continue reading
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