Summer reading list

With the holiday season almost upon us we are launching our summer reading list. The Economics Team read dozens of articles to come up with our top six picks for summer reading. All are available free and on-line. You can save these articles on your iPhone or iPad's reading list...

Asset prices Consumer, pay, jobs Corporate activity Deficits, debt Global economics Growth Innovation Monetary policy, inflation Special topics
07/17/2017 10:32
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Post-election dip in UK business confidence

The latest Deloitte survey of UK Chief Financial Officers, released this morning, shows a fall in business optimism in the wake of the General Election on 8th June. Despite speculation that the result of the election could mean a closer long term relationship between the UK and the EU, CFO...

Asset prices Consumer, pay, jobs Corporate activity Deficits, debt Global economics Growth Monetary policy, inflation
07/10/2017 11:02
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Savings slump, credit booms

News last week of a collapse in the UK savings ratio and a surge in consumer borrowing suggest that the consumer party may be getting out of hand. Perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised. Following the financial crisis the Bank of England slashed interest rates and printed money to kick...

Asset prices Consumer, pay, jobs Corporate activity Deficits, debt Growth Monetary policy, inflation
07/03/2017 09:22
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The changing nature of work

In what has been a rather lacklustre economic recovery one standout success for the UK has been job creation. In the last eight years the number of people in employment has risen by 10% to record levels. Self-employment is up by a quarter. Britain’s unemployment rate today is one of...

Consumer, pay, jobs Growth Monetary policy, inflation
06/26/2017 10:56
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Whatever happened to austerity?

Last week a Times headline proclaimed that “Austerity is Over” in the UK. It may have been an exaggeration, but the headline captured the spirit of the time. Labour’s anti-austerity rhetoric played well with voters during the election campaign. The Conservatives, who ran their 2010 and 2015 election campaigns on...

Asset prices Consumer, pay, jobs Corporate activity Deficits, debt Global economics Growth Monetary policy, inflation
06/19/2017 11:44
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Thoughts on the UK General Election

By about 9am last Friday my capacity for surprise had been almost exhausted by the Labour Party’s stunning performance in the General Election. Still, I was a bit puzzled by the phlegmatic reaction of financial markets to the news of a hung parliament. There was no panicky sell off as...

Corporate activity Deficits, debt Global economics Growth Monetary policy, inflation Special topics
06/12/2017 10:54
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Everything you need to know about the General Election - except the result

This week’s briefing provides a short General Election primer. All data, odds and polls are correct as of 7pm on Sunday 4 June. Voting in Thursday’s election will take place between 7am and 10pm. The counting of ballots will begin as soon as the polls have closed. The final result...

Consumer, pay, jobs Corporate activity Deficits, debt Global economics Growth Monetary policy, inflation
06/05/2017 10:16
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Technology, jobs and the "gig economy"

Last week I spoke at a debate on the effects of technology in the workplace. The event got me thinking about this vast, complex subject. Here’s a two-minute summary of my musings. It seems to me that innovation will remain the key driver of growth and human welfare. Rising prosperity...

Consumer, pay, jobs Corporate activity Deficits, debt Global economics Growth Innovation
05/30/2017 13:00
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Equity markets party

Equity markets seem to be partying like there’s no tomorrow. After a surge in recent weeks equity markets in the US, Germany and the UK are close to all-time highs. If you had bought UK equities a year ago, five weeks before the EU referendum, you would have made a...

Asset prices Corporate activity Deficits, debt Global economics Growth Monetary policy, inflation
05/22/2017 10:18
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Localism vs globalisation, more complex than it looks

Western politics has developed a more nationalist character in recent years. In Europe populist parties claim to champion national interest against globalisation while in the US Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have broken with the free trade consensus that has lasted since 1945. Quite different in character, but also focused...

Asset prices Consumer, pay, jobs Corporate activity Deficits, debt Global economics Growth Innovation Monetary policy, inflation
05/16/2017 15:08
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On measuring progress

Perhaps the most fundamental task facing economists is to measure the change in human welfare over time. To get to a measure of spending power you need to measure incomes and prices over time. Incomes are relatively straightforward, prices less so. To gauge the changing standard of living you need...

Consumer, pay, jobs Corporate activity Deficits, debt Global economics Growth Innovation Monetary policy, inflation
05/08/2017 11:17
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