News Briefing – 18/11/2024
UK Economics On 12 November the Office for National Statistics announced that the UK unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in the three months to September, up from 4% last quarter. Uncertainty surrounding the recent budget, particularly the increase to employer national insurance, has been blamed by some for this rise in unemployment. Figures released on 15 November also suggest that the UK economy grew by … Continue reading News Briefing – 18/11/2024
News Briefing – 11/11/2024
UK Economics On 30 October Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s much anticipated budget to the House of Commons, which included £40bn in tax rises. An increase in employer national insurance from 13.8% to 15% on salaries above £9,100 made up the brunt of this increase, raising an additional £25bn per year. Other measures included increasing capital gains tax, with the lower rate rising from 10 … Continue reading News Briefing – 11/11/2024
News Briefing – 14/10/2024
UK Economics On 10 October the UK government published a set of proposals to reform employment law, as part of its manifesto commitment to deliver a new workers’ bill of rights. The 28 policies include day one employment rights, abolishing fire and rehire and updating trade union legislation. On 11 October the Office for National Statistics announced that the UK economy grew by 0.2% in … Continue reading News Briefing – 14/10/2024
Labour’s Autumn Budget: Balancing Growth with Fiscal Reality
Labour currently face a catch-22 situation: they need to encourage growth in a country that recently exited a recession, while also filling in the £22 billion fiscal ‘black hole’. But how will they approach fiscal policy in this upcoming Autumn Budget? Will Labour continue their approach of making ‘hard decisions’ or will they take a tamer approach on the 30th of October? As always, the government has … Continue reading Labour’s Autumn Budget: Balancing Growth with Fiscal Reality
What strategies would be most effective for improving UK productivity? – JKP 2024
Amidst the complexities of the UK economy, productivity stands in the way of sustained economic growth. The UK’s productivity has barely grown since the financial crisis. One method of measuring this is through using total factor productivity (TFP). Since 2007, just before the financial crash the following year, the TFP of the UK has only increased 1.7%, compared to the 27% increase from the 16 years preceding … Continue reading What strategies would be most effective for improving UK productivity? – JKP 2024
The Lewis Model of Development
In the 1950s, St Lucian economist Sir William Arthur Lewis theorised the ‘Dual Sector Model’ or the ‘Lewis Model’. The model examines structural change within developing economies which results in rapid periods of economic growth. The Lewis model centres upon a dualistic economy, which is split into the agricultural “subsistence” sector and the industrial “modern” sector. This divide can be simplified to those working in … Continue reading The Lewis Model of Development
What strategies would be most effective for improving UK productivity? – JKP 2024
Productivity is defined as the amount of output produced per unit of input. The most commonly used notion is labour productivity which denotes output per working hour. It has been widely acknowledged that the UK has suffered from a productivity problem: a 0.3% decrease in GDP per hour compared to 2022 and a decrease of 24% from the forecasted trend pre-financial crisis, ranking the UK bottom of all … Continue reading What strategies would be most effective for improving UK productivity? – JKP 2024
Does the gig economy support sustainable economic growth?
The launch of Uber in 2009, heralded the birth of the so called “Gig Economy” involving the exchange of labour and resources through a digital platform that could actively match buyers (riders in the case of Uber) with sellers (the drivers). On such platforms, workers perform smaller jobs, commonly referred to as ‘gigs’, instead of, or perhaps on top of, a full-time job and are … Continue reading Does the gig economy support sustainable economic growth?
News Briefing – 08/10/2024
UK Economics On 3 October Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, announced that the Bank may start being a “bit more aggressive” in cutting interest rates moving forward. This has come after the Bank held its base rate at 5.0% in September. Bailey’s announcement has prompted a rise in hot money flows exiting the UK. On 3 October the Pound fell 1% against … Continue reading News Briefing – 08/10/2024
News Briefing – 30/09/2024
UK Economics On 26 September the rating agencies S&P and Moody’s both downgraded Thames Water’s credit rating by five levels to the equivalent of CCC+. The embattled firm has 11 days to refinance £530mn of debt or risk government renationalisation. The Department for Transport has commissioned a review into the HS2 project, which may lead to HS2 Ltd being brought under the direct control of … Continue reading News Briefing – 30/09/2024
