Kenneth Arrow: The man who proved economists needn’t be loud to make a difference March 8, 2017 Does winning the Nobel Prize in economics cause longevity? We might be forgiven for thinking so. Thomas Schelling died last year aged 95. The author of the famous textbook, Paul Samuelson, passed away at 94, while his colleague Bob Solow is still going strong at 92. The British Laureate Ronald Coase reached the age of [...]
Business teaches you how to negotiate: Here’s the Brexit advice I would give Theresa if I was at Number 10 March 8, 2017 As an entrepreneur, I’m naturally optimistic. I’ve always seen the upside in the UK becoming an independent nation, which is why I supported Vote Leave during the referendum campaign. My business career has also taught me some valuable lessons on how to negotiate successfully. If the government is given space to negotiate our exit from [...]
Why we should cheer on chancellor Philip Hammond -aka Spreadsheet Phil – during today’s Spring Budget March 8, 2017 Cast your minds back to November 2015, when George Osborne was still chancellor of the exchequer and Brexit was merely a twinkle in Boris Johnson’s artful eyes. Osborne was under pressure to scrap his proposed cuts to tax credits following an intense political storm. Fortunately for David Cameron’s right hand man, the government’s fiscal watchdog presented [...]
Employers see skills shortages ahead as demand for talent rises according to the REC’s jobs report March 8, 2017 Demand for staff in Britain has reached its highest point in 18 months as concerns over skills shortage rise for employers, a new survey of recruiters shows. Job vacancies rose to their highest point since mid-2015, according to an index collected by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), continuing a strong recovery since dipping after [...]
Biggest US trade deficit since 2012 fans the flames of Donald Trump’s economic nationalism March 7, 2017 The gap between America’s imports and exports with the rest of the world grew to its widest since March 2012, adding fuel to the fire of President Donald Trump’s economic nationalism. The US imported $48.5bn more than it exported in January, an increase of $4.2bn from the previous month, according to the US Bureau of [...]
Exclusive: Apprentice star Lord Sugar says “Labour is dead”, Amazon should pay more in business rates and no one understands Brexit March 7, 2017 Apprentice star Lord Sugar has slammed Jeremy Corbyn for "destroying the Labour party". Speaking exclusively to Morning Wire, the billionaire entrepreneur said: "I think Jeremy Corbyn is totally useless and he’s destroyed the Labour party. It’s finished. It’s dead. They’ve got to find a new leader. "They need to kick him out but he’s so belligerent he [...]
Big upward revision for UK growth this year from the OECD March 7, 2017 The UK economy will grow much faster this year than previously expected, according to an influential economics organisation, as it revised up forecasts it slashed after the Brexit vote. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) raised its projections for 2017 GDP growth to 1.6 per cent, a change of 0.6 percentage points since [...]
Budget 2017 UK predictions: What you can expect from the chancellor’s Spring Budget March 7, 2017 It's that time of year again: the chancellor is getting set to dust off his little red box and deliver the Spring Budget. It's the last one we'll see at this time of year, as Philip Hammond decided to move the major announcements to an Autumn Statement schedule. It's likely to be a more staid [...]
The US and UK are failing to confront the long-term drivers of explosive debt growth March 7, 2017 The chancellor Philip Hammond will take to the despatch box tomorrow to deliver his Budget. The media will pore over the plethora of announcements made – fiddly tax changes here, growth forecast revisions there. But this short-term focus misses the real policy story of the post-crisis period. The political class is failing to address our [...]
It’s productivity, stupid: The chancellor must be bolder on the greatest threat to living standards March 7, 2017 Whenever a new Budget is in the offing, fiscal policy tends to take centre stage. But while an open and lively debate over the goals of fiscal policy in the coming year is to be welcomed, we should not forget about the economic problems that, lurking in the background, continue to afflict the country. In particular, [...]