Mystic (Rees-)Mogg and the art of economic prediction
by Simon Goodley from on (#233FK)
The forecasters due to be quizzed by the Treasury select committee this week are not likely to strike a chord with its buttoned-up chairman
A big week in parliament for the Jacob Rees-Mogg committee (formerly known as the Treasury select committee), which will again be grilling one of its favourite targets: economic forecasters.
First up on Tuesday comes Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which last Thursday said that Brexit really means British workers facing the longest pay squeeze in 70 years. The following day will see Robert Chote, chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility, whose organisation also had a run-out last week, when it predicted the UK economy would slow next year and inflation would rise.
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