With inflation expected to hit 3 per cent in 2017, is the Bank of England right to prioritise growth over price stability? August 16, 2016 Martin Beck, senior economic adviser to the EY Item Club, says Yes. In light of the sharp post-referendum drop in the value of the pound, prices of imported goods are set to increase. As a result, inflation will rise over the next year. As our forecast suggests, CPI inflation is expected to peak at around 3 [...]
Britain can make an Olympian out of its economy with these 10 lessons from Rio August 16, 2016 The Olympics can teach you as much about economics as sport. So here are 10 fundamental economic lessons to take home from Rio: 1. Olympians have fought gladiatorial battles to reach Brazil and the competition is about to get even more intense. In economics, as in sport, competition is critical. The most successful Olympians and the most [...]
Trump and Corbyn are pushing extreme views August 16, 2016 Surveys constantly reveal that a worrying number of Americans believe some absurd untruths, and crackpot conspiracy theories, about their outgoing President, Barack Obama. A poll last year, for example, found that 29 per cent think Obama is a muslim. A respected survey a few years prior put the number at 18 per cent. Republican candidate Donald [...]
I quit government over Heathrow expansion: This is why I changed my mind August 15, 2016 I resigned as parliamentary private secretary to the minister of state at the Home Office and Treasury in 2009 over government proposals for expansion at Heathrow. The plan was unsympathetic to local residents, it ignored concerns about both environmental and noise pollution, and it didn’t offer enough in the way of increased surface access to [...]
Forging closer ties with booming India will unlock vast opportunities for Britain August 15, 2016 On the eve of Indian independence on 15 August, 1947 (whose anniversary was celebrated yesterday), the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said that “the achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us.” India’s independence was not even 70 years ago, yet the [...]
Consumers want regulation – and Uber shows why markets regulate better than the state August 15, 2016 Waiting in the sweltering heat of Washington, DC for 10 minutes for an Uber, I was desperate to get into an air conditioned car. So when one pulled up right in front of me bearing the Uber sticker, my immediate reaction was relief. It was five minutes into the journey, when I glanced at the [...]
As Santander slashes rates on its market-leading 123 account, will this be a lost decade for Britain’s savers? August 15, 2016 Danny Cox, a chartered financial planner who works at Hargreaves Lansdown, says Yes. The nightmare for savers continues with little sign of respite. The few bright spots, such as the Santander 123 account, are following an inevitable path of rate decline. Savers now face a lost decade of returns on their cash. Inflation rises on the horizon [...]
Responsible nationalism: This new ideology could be the antidote to both Trump and Brexit August 15, 2016 Britons will be forgiven for still being a little anxious over the future of their country after voting to quit the European Union in June. There’s not been much to chew on in the weeks following a referendum that seemed like the UK had hit the reset button on globalism itself. But amid the vast reams [...]
Whitehall needs to get its Brexit act together August 15, 2016 The official website of Chevening House, the country residence of the foreign secretary, still lists Philip Hammond as the present occupier. That they have yet to update the site since Boris Johnson took over as the UK’s most senior diplomat is perhaps a reflection of the confusion caused by Theresa May (somewhat mischievously) asking Boris to [...]
Who owns America? Why Donald Trump will lose – but not by much August 15, 2016 To put it mildly, by any terrestrial standards Donald Trump has not had a good week. Be it seeming to threaten Hillary Clinton with assassination or stubbornly refusing to back down on his Oliver Stone-like claim that President Obama is the founder of Isis, Trump has stretched the already fraying bonds of American credulity to breaking point. [...]