DEBATE: Should we be concerned about our freedoms as the UK is placed fourth in the Nanny State Index? May 1, 2019 Should we be concerned about our freedoms as the UK is placed fourth in the Nanny State Index? Alex Deane, a Conservative commentator, says YES. The Institute of Economic Affairs is right to criticise the UK by ranking it as one of the least free countries in terms of excessive regulation of alcohol, food, and tobacco. [...]
Your guide to US results season Q1 2019 April 30, 2019 | City Talk By Jemma Jackson from interactive investor. Home or away? interactive investor comment as US earnings season kicks off ahead of expectations So far, the news has been generally positive, with banks having noted an improvement in Net Interest Margins (the difference between the rate at which they borrow and lend). Industrials have also provided a [...]
Labour policies will represent ‘revolution’ for UK economy says John McDonnell April 29, 2019 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Labour will unleash an economic “revolution” if it wins power. The Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, who has previously named Soviet revolutionaries Lenin and Trotsky as key intellectual influences, told the BBC he saw parallels with 1979 when Margaret Thatcher swept to power. "Things aren't working for people, so they're [...]
A new book about austerity has put Keynesian economists on the defensive April 29, 2019 Notoriously, economists quarrel about almost everything in their subject. But since the publication of John Maynard Keynes’ General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money in 1936, they are supposed to agree on one point: that increases in government spending boost demand and output, and reductions in government spending depress them. Indeed, according to the theory, a [...]
HMRC ramping up spending on private debt collectors, new analysis shows April 29, 2019 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has spent £90m on private debt collectors in the last three years, compared to £34m in the three years before that, according to new analysis. Read more: Public will be able to make digital HMRC complaints from August The UK tax agency spent £26m on private debt collectors in 2018 [...]
Bottoms up: English and Welsh sparkling wine sales jumped six per cent last year with 4m bottles sold April 23, 2019 UK sales of English and Welsh sparkling wine rose six per cent last year with 4m bottles sold. UK consumers bought more British sparkling wine than they did sparkling wines from Australia, the US and Germany combined in 2018. Italy was the top exporter of sparkling wine to the UK last year with 117m bottles [...]
Nearly three-fifths of firms think the UK tax regime is unfair to businesses like theirs April 23, 2019 Nearly three-fifths of businesses think they are unfairly penalised by the tax system, a new survey published today shows. The survey of over 1,000 businesses by the British Chamber of Commerce uncovered widespread concerned at the way HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) applies tax rules to different types of firms. More than two-thirds (67 per [...]
‘Wake-up call’: Germany downgrades 2019 economic growth forecast to just 0.5 per cent April 17, 2019 The German government today once again slashed growth predictions for its economy, saying it now foresees a GDP increase of just 0.5 per cent in 2019, compared to the 2.1 per cent it predicted a year ago. Read more: Eurozone manufacturing sector contracts with Germany shrinking fastest Economy minister Peter Altmaier said new car emissions [...]
UK inflation rate holds steady at 1.9 per cent sending Britons’ real wages higher April 17, 2019 The UK’s headline annual inflation rate remained unchanged in March, staying at 1.9 per cent, meaning Britons’ real wages are increasing as pay growth outstrips price rises. Read more: London house price plunge drags down UK-wide growth rate Meanwhile the inflation rate including housing costs and council tax stayed at 1.8 per cent, where it [...]
Extraordinary? It’s business as usual in Trump’s White House April 17, 2019 Donald Trump is probably the most extraordinary individual to ever be President of the United States. But his presidency is actually rather ordinary. This is not to argue that Trump is an ordinary President – far from it. In almost everything he says and does, how he projects himself in speeches, tweets and meetings with [...]