The Tories need to satisfy their new northern voters fast. Not easy given the economic problems are structuralIn politics, the year just gone will be remembered for a number of reasons. It recorded a change of prime minister, a spell when the executive lost control of the parliamentary agenda, and a general election. One thing it won’t be remembered for is its budget: 2019 was the first year since the Napoleonic wars that there was no big day out for the chancellor of the exchequer.By the time Sajid Javid stands up in the House of Commons on 11 March it will have been more than 15 months since Philip Hammond delivered the last budget. For those who can’t remember – most people, in all likelihood – Hammond’s main announcement was extra money for the NHS.Related: The Tories need to turn on the spending taps in the north now | Larry Elliott Continue reading...
Brexit is a Tory invention and pro-Europeans must still fight our EU exileIn less than three weeks, Britain leaves the EU. Those vast marches, the crowded public meetings, the indefatigable Remain campaigners, the great speeches, the parliamentary wheeler-dealing and principled resignations were all for nothing. The “get Brexit done†Tories, exploiting the least electable Labour leader ever, won the election and were handed an 80-seat majority. The die is cast.For the political class, the issue has become toxic. Boris Johnson wants Brexit expunged from the lexicon so that the new normal is for Britain to be wholly outside the EU. Labour, flattened by its epic defeat, is agreed that to be pro-EU is political death. Remain Britain – half the population – has no champion.Britain is too exposed, too economically and militarily weak and too European to have an independent foreign policyRelated: Brexit weekly briefing: UK counts down to 31 January departure Continue reading...
If the PM were the one nation Tory he claims to be, he would – and should – choose to keep Britain aligned with the EUI have occasionally referred over the years to a parody of an editorial which a group of us at the Financial Times once concocted on a slow news day. It began something like this: “While in many ways we were against the Marxist manifesto on which the opposition campaigned, now that they have been elected the important thing is to make their programme work.â€Well, there has been no danger of any newspaper having to welcome a Corbyn government in such tones. However, an up-to-date version of that editorial might read as follows: “While we thought, and still think, that the new government’s plan to leave the European Union is bordering on the insane, the important thing now is to make it work.â€Let us hope the optimists are right, and that Johnson has moved on from wanting to prorogue parliament in order to crash out Continue reading...
While a cessation in hostilities is welcome, businesses have a lot of ground to make up, and few expect any further progressThe trade war with China is over; long live the trade war. That is the message from Donald Trump as the US president promotes a pact with Beijing that has both settled the frayed nerves of traders across the world’s financial markets and put those same traders on notice that the battle will continue for years to come.This week the White House is expected to publish details of a first- phase deal that cuts the import tariffs from 15% to 7.5% on more than $100bn of Chinese imports as soon as the agreement is implemented. The deal is expected to be signed on Wednesday, although Trump said on Friday it might be “shortly thereafterâ€.There’s been a lot of disruption and pain, and there hasn’t been a lot of progress on the most important issues Continue reading...
The president’s agreement with China is based on a misunderstanding of the corporate mindset. It’s time to invest in ourselvesTrump’s “phase one†agreement with China, to be signed on Wednesday, is intended partly to slow China’s move into new technologies like electric cars by protecting the intellectual property of American corporations.Which lends a certain irony to Tesla’s first Model 3 electric sedans now coming off assembly lines at the firm’s new multibillion-dollar plant in Shanghai.Related: Tesla delivers first China-made cars from $5bn Shanghai factoryRobert Reich is a Guardian US columnist. His next book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, will be out in March Continue reading...
Unemployment rate holds at 3.5% for the second straight month but figures suggest a lingering weakness in manufacturingUS employers added 145,000 jobs in December, capping a record 10 years of jobs growth as the unemployment rate held at 3.5% for the second straight month, prolonging a half-century low.Hiring slipped after robust gains of 256,000 in November that were caused in part by the one-off end of a strike at General Motors.Related: Central banks are now the markets' best friends | Mohamed El-Erian Continue reading...
US non-farm payrolls have come in lower than expected at 145k for December, while annual wage growth missed forecasts at 2.9%3.06pm GMT2.53pm GMTAnd in lighter news, the co-founder of digital bank Monzo has quit to pursue an alternative career: farming alpacas in Northumberland.For the next few weeks and months I’m going to enjoy some time with Debbie at our wonderful farm in Northumberland.You’ll find me doing the feed rounds, hosting alpaca walk ’n’ talks and driving my tractor (a Massey Ferguson 390T if you like that sort of thing - otherwise it’s big and red!).2.35pm GMTEven poor job and wage growth figures couldn’t hold back US stocks, resulting in all three major indices hitting fresh record highs at the open.The Dow has hit 28,988.01 and we’re still waiting for it to rise above 29,000 for the first time.2.21pm GMTThe proof is in the chart: here you can see how US annual wage growth has held up above 3% between summer 2018 and November 2019.2.03pm GMTThe FT (£) caught on to a notable statistic: this first time that US wage growth has dropped below 3% since July 2018.US wage growth slips below 3% for first time since 2018 https://t.co/YJXyLNmEHh1.56pm GMTFor those of you who saw the earlier tweet, it’s now been revised. (I’ve deleted the previous version in the blog to avoid confusion...)Whoops, got a tweet exactly backwards. Deleting it and tweeting a screenshot to show my shame.
Congo-Brazzaville and Chad among hardest hit as campaigners warn spiralling repayments could trigger disasterPoorer countries are cutting public spending in response to a “growing debt crisisâ€, campaigners have warned.Debt in some countries has trebled according to new figures that calculate debt reimbursements, and their impact on government expenditure, in 60 countries.Related: Debt in developing economies rises to record $55tn Continue reading...
When the markets dip, the banks step in to help with stimulus. Such action may prove counter-productiveAfter a year that involved one of the biggest U-turns in recent monetary-policy history, central banks are hoping for peace and quiet in 2020. This is particularly true for the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve, the world’s two most powerful monetary institutions. But the realisation of peace and quiet is increasingly out of their direct control; and their hopes would easily be dashed if markets were to succumb to any number of medium-term uncertainties, many of which extend well beyond economics and finance to the realms of geopolitics, institutions and domestic social and political conditions.Just over a year ago, the ECB and the Fed were on the path of gradually reducing their massively expanded balance sheets and the Fed was increasing interest rates from levels first adopted in the midst of the global financial crisis. Both institutions were attempting to normalise their monetary policies after years of relying on ultra-low or negative interest rates and large-scale asset purchases. The Fed had raised interest rates four times in 2018, signalled further increases for 2019 and set the unwinding of its balance sheet on “autopilotâ€. And the ECB had ended its balance-sheet expansion and begun to steer away from further stimulus.Related: We must tackle global energy inequality before it’s too late Continue reading...
by Richard Partington Economics correspondent on (#4XNK8)
World’s central banks running out of options to stimulate economies – Mark CarneyMark Carney has dropped a hint that interest rates could be cut soon to boost the British economy, while warning that the Bank of England is running low on ways to combat recessions.In one of his final speeches before he departs Threadneedle Street in March, Carney said the economy had been sluggish in recent months and that inflation was below the Bank’s 2% target set by the government.Related: Pound slides as Bank of England's Mark Carney drops rate cut hint - business live Continue reading...
Current debt wave is largest, fastest and most broad-based since 1970s, say economistsThe World Bank has highlighted the risk of a fresh global debt crisis after warning of the biggest buildup in borrowing in the past 50 years.In its half-yearly Global Economic Prospects (GEP), the Washington-based organisation said of the four waves of debt accumulation since the 1970s, the latest was the largest, fastest and most broad-based. Continue reading...
Rumors of Middle East war used to inevitably lead to soaring gas prices but fracking revolution has changed the market landscapeFor many older Americans the thought of war in the Middle East will trigger memories of soaring gas prices and long lines at the pumps. But as US relations with Iran sink to a new low there is, as yet, no sign of panic.Related: By killing Qassem Suleimani, Trump has achieved the impossible: uniting Iran | Dina EsfandiaryRelated: Iran threatens to hit US bases with medium- and long-range missiles Continue reading...
Fears grow that Donald Trump will now set his sights on the EU and the UKThe gap between US imports and exports shrank to its lowest level in three years in November following a 15% decline in the country’s annual trade deficit with China.A boost to US exports also improved the trade balance, fuelling concerns that Donald Trump will expand his campaign to squeeze the US trade deficit, which has so far focused on China, to include the EU and the UK. Continue reading...
Kristalina Georgieva calls for rethink of economic policies to better help those left behindRaising income tax on the wealthy will help close the growing gap between rich and poor and can be done without harming growth, the head of the International Monetary Fund has said.Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, said higher marginal tax rates for the better off were needed as part of a policy rethink to tackle inequality.What is the IMF? Continue reading...
Stephanie Kelton says Australia could ‘absolutely’ benefit from a program similar to the Green New DealAustralia’s unprecedented bushfires are a wake-up call to the world about the importance of tackling climate change, Bernie Sanders’ economic adviser said, and the country should consider implementing a green new deal to transition to a low carbon economy.Stephanie Kelton said Australia could benefit from an ambitious program of spending, similar to the one proposed by Sanders and others that aims to transform the US economy and help keep global heating below 1.5C.Related: 'This is war': actor Yael Stone gives up US green card and will now live in Australia to fight climate changeRelated: Should fossil fuels pay for Australia's new bushfire reality? It is the industry most responsible | Amanda Cahill Continue reading...
Chancellor promises to tackle regional imbalances by reforming how Treasury allocates fundsSajid Javid has pledged to use his first budget to kickstart a decade of renewal for the economy after announcing 11 March as the date for the delayed set-piece event.The chancellor said his package would focus on unleashing Britain’s potential after the country’s departure from the EU at the end of this month. Continue reading...
There should be a worldwide tax on emissions backed by help for developing countries to cut CO2While denizens of the world’s wealthiest economies debate the fate and fortune of the middle class, more than 800 million people worldwide have no access to electricity. And more than 2 billion have no clean cooking facilities, forcing them to use toxic alternatives such as animal waste as their main cooking fuel. Furthermore, per capita carbon dioxide emissions in Europe and the US are still vastly higher than in China and India. What right do Americans, in particular, have to complain as China increases production in smokestack industries to counter the economic slowdown caused by its trade war with the US? To many in Asia, the inward-looking debate in the west often seems both tone deaf and beside the point.Even if Europe and the US deliberately stall their capitalist growth engines – as some of the more radical policy proposals might do if implemented – it would not be nearly enough to contain global warming if emerging economies stay on their current consumption growth trajectory.Related: In 2020 the UK must seize the chance to lead the world on the climate emergency | Danny Sriskandarajah Continue reading...
We need less glorification of power and money, especially from overseas buyers, and more thought given to the wellbeing of citizensThe Conservative party manifesto promised that when the party was in power it would charge foreign buyers of homes in England an extra 3% on the purchase price in stamp duty. Such levies have been used in Canada, Singapore and Australia to tackle housing crises. However, no mention was made of the charge in the Queen’s speech. If it does not pop up in the budget the Conservatives would have missed a chance to show they understand how voters feel crowded out of the housing market while wealthy overseas buyers are crowded in.Estate agents say the proportion of homes in England and Wales let by overseas-based landlords rose to 11% during the first 10 months of 2019, the first year-on-year increase since 2010. Nearly one in five of London’s homes are rented out by people not based in the UK. The trend is not just visible in the capital. The east of England recorded the biggest jumps in the number of overseas landlords. People say they are being priced out of living in Manchester because of foreign cash. Continue reading...
Britain will be seeking to reboot productivity and redefine its place in a rapidly-changing worldAt the outset of the 2020s, the UK economy embarks on a new decade with little momentum. Growth has stalled, not least because Brexit uncertainty and a slowdown in the global economy has served as a handbrake on business investment. Meanwhile, consumers have begun tightening their belts and the job market boom of the past decade has petered out.For at least the duration of 2020 another groundhog year awaits thanks to the ongoing Brexit saga, despite the promise Boris Johnson made before the election. Continue reading...
Trading has been buoyant through recent turbulence, but tensions in Iran – or a rise in the base rate – might change thatSo much for the idea that bull markets in shares die of old age. This theory has been widely touted for at least the past four years and, 12 months ago, it seemed as if the naysayers were on to something. Global share prices, as measured by the broad MSCI World index, fell 3% in 2018, with much of the blame pinned on the brewing China-US trade war. But then came 2019: a surge of 24% in the same index.Life doesn’t seem quite as nice if you gaze solely at the FTSE 100 index – a fall of 12.5% in 2018 and a rebound of 12% in 2019. Still, last year was the best performance in three years for the London market’s blue chip index. Death by old age did not occur.A change in the interest-rate weather is the most common cause of a turn in stock markets Continue reading...
Warnings from the IMF and World Bank have been dismissed. But even if they are wrong, a demographic crisis loomsThe warning signs are clear. Debt is rising on every continent and especially in the business sector, which has spent the past decade ramping up its borrowing to previously unheard-of levels.Last October, the International Monetary Fund said that almost 40% of the corporate debt in eight leading countries – the US, China, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain – would become so expensive during a recession that it would be impossible to service. In other words, tens of thousands of businesses, employing millions of people, would have gambled with high levels of borrowing and lost, making themselves insolvent.Without higher interest rates, everyone can keep merrily borrowing Continue reading...
by Richard Partington Economics correspondent on (#4XCHZ)
Borrowers repay £100m in November, reflecting falling demand for consumer lendingUK consumers have made net repayments on their credit cards for the first time in almost seven years, as households across the country rein spending in and rebuild their finances after a boom in borrowing.The Bank of England reported the first monthly fall in credit card debts since July 2013, after borrowers repaid around £100m in November to reflect fading demand for consumer credit.Related: UK retirees' spending rockets as younger people spend less Continue reading...
Average price in December was £215,282, with London weakest performer, says NationwideHouse prices shrugged off Brexit uncertainty to end 2019 1.4% higher than at the start of the year, according to Nationwide building society.After 10 stagnant months, prices rose strongly in November and December to record the modest annual increase. The average UK house price in December was £215,282, Nationwide said. Property values edged up by 0.1% month on month. Continue reading...
Barriers to older people shopping and working holds economy back, say researchersSpending sprees by retirees are adding billions to the UK economy, researchers have found, while spending by younger people is falling.But although some pensioners are indulging themselves, barriers including inaccessible high streets, poorly designed products and age-discriminatory attitudes mean people aged 75 and over are not spending their wealth. Continue reading...
British Chambers of Commerce report says long-term uncertainty is impeding growthThe UK economy ended 2019 in stagnation, under pressure from long-term uncertainty, mounting business costs and a global economic slowdown, according to a business survey.The British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) latest quarterly economic snapshot, based on a poll of 6,500 firms across the country in November, painted a gloomy picture of the economy at the end of the last decade. Continue reading...
People’s Bank of China allows commercial banks to hold less capital in reserveChina’s central bank has acted to pump more liquidity into the country’s economy in an attempt to prevent growth slowing in 2020.The People’s Bank of China is allowing commercial banks to hold less capital in reserve, freeing up about 800bn yuan (£87bn) in new funds for loans. It will cut China’s banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 50 basis points, to 12.5%, from 6 January. Continue reading...
Prospect of agreement lifts stock markets but experts question impact on long-running tensionsDonald Trump has said he will sign the first phase of a long-awaited trade deal with China on 15 January, in a move that de-escalates the tariff war between the world’s two biggest economies.In a tweet on Tuesday, the US president said “high-level representatives of China†would attend an official ceremony at the White House, adding he would also be travelling to Beijing for talks on the second phase of the deal.I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15. The ceremony will take place at the White House. High level representatives of China will be present. At a later date I will be going to Beijing where talks will begin on Phase Two!Related: White House expecting agreement with China 'within next week or so' Continue reading...
by Richard Partington Economics correspondent on (#4X7YB)
Employees over 25 will receive a 6.2% pay rise equating to £930 a year for full-time workerAlmost 3 million workers in Britain are to receive a pay rise of more than four times the rate of inflation from April, after the government said it would increase the official minimum wage.In an announcement designed to woo low-paid workers in the immediate aftermath of Boris Johnson’s election victory earlier this month, the government said the “national living wage†for over-25s would increase from £8.21 an hour to £8.72 from the start of April. Continue reading...
by Richard Partington Economics correspondent on (#4X7FK)
Trade adviser Peter Navarro suggests little more than translation of text is neededThe White House has signalled that a trade agreement with China could come within the next week, amid speculation that a delegation from Beijing will travel to the US this weekend to sign a deal.Peter Navarro, the White House’s trade adviser, said he expected a deal could be signed “within the next week or soâ€. Speaking on Fox News, he indicated that little more than translation of the final text stood in the way of a breakthrough in the bitter dispute.Related: How financial markets turned upside down in 2019 Continue reading...
FSB survey, taken before general election, shows few exporters expecting a pick-upAfter a year dogged by Brexit deadlock, political uncertainty and slow growth, optimism among small UK firms has slumped to an eight-year low.The Federation of Small Businesses’s confidence gauge fell in October-December for the sixth quarter in a row. Managers at firms across the UK reported worries about the domestic economy and pessimism about opportunities overseas. Continue reading...
Weak data used to send stocks down but the promise of never-ending cheap money from central banks means the only way is upWith one day of trading to go, 2019 is on course to be one of the strongest in the history of financial markets after shares around the world racked up record after record in another barnstorming year.On Wall Street the Dow Jones industrial average has gone up almost 25% having reached record highs day after day, while the broader S&P500 is up 30% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq has grown 40% in value. The FTSE100 in London is close to its record high, as is the Dax30 in Germany. In the Asia Pacific, the Nikkei is up 15% while Australia’s ASX200 is still close to its highest ever point (reached in November).Related: It's more than a decade since the financial crisis. Where's the recovery? | Larry ElliottAustralia's stock market is within 0.2% of an all-time high. Might get there today. So excitedRelated: 'Amazing deal' or 'capitulation'? Why the US-China trade truce may not lastRecession gets priced out by a stock rally for the record books. Very big years in markets rarely come right before recessions. Research finds stock returns lead S&P earnings by a quarter. https://t.co/pm0AfIWXze pic.twitter.com/sMqXjTLxH1 Continue reading...
by Rebecca Smithers Consumer affairs correspondent on (#4X6J1)
Market including food, drinks, clothing and energy has risen almost fourfold in past 20 yearsEthical consumer spending has hit record levels in the UK, according to a new report that reveals the total market – including food, drinks, clothing, energy and eco-travel – has swelled to over £41bn.Total ethical spending has risen almost fourfold in the past 20 years and outgrown all UK household expenditure, which has been broadly flat, according to the new study from Co-op.Related: Christmas jumpers add to plastic pollution crisis, says charity Continue reading...
We’ve had plenty of difficult periods before, but they were temporary and explicableIt’s the dog days of 2009. Gordon Brown is prime minister, Alistair Darling is chancellor of the exchequer and Mervyn King is governor of the Bank of England.Britain has been through a tough two years. As a country heavily dependent on financial services, it has been especially hard hit by the banking crash of 2008. The economy has suffered some severe recessions since the second world war but the slump of 2008-09 has been the worst of the lot. Continue reading...
Britain is being urged to ‘move on’ – but the prospect of crashing out after a year is very realA funny thing happened to me last Monday. I was lunching with my friend Sir Samuel Brittan, the great Financial Times economics commentator, in advance celebration of his 86th birthday. It was he who, when we were colleagues on the FT, suggested that I specialise in writing about the economy.During the lunch, several anti-Brexit sympathisers approached our table to express approval of the slogan on my pullover. It was the present from one of my daughters that I referred to here two years ago, which proclaims in large letters: “All I want for Christmas is EU.â€The loss of tax revenue likely to accompany the mere approach to Brexit makes Johnson’s electoral promises for the north look, well, ridiculous Continue reading...
Average property in borough has leapt by 429%, as Newry, Northern Ireland, records slowest risesA former down-at-heel corner of east London, the borough of Newham, has witnessed the steepest rise in property prices in the UK this century, according to data from Halifax, while the slowest increases have been in Newry in Northern Ireland.The average house price in Newham has leapt by 429% since the start of the century, from £75,762 in 2000 to £400,574, a gain of 429%. The borough encompasses Stratford, home to the 2012 Olympics, and is peppered with new glass and steel residential towers, as well as some of the most deprived wards in the UK. Continue reading...
Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board in the 1980s who saw off inflation and later criticised financial deregulationPaul Volcker, who has died aged 92, was the most eminent financial statesman of his generation, the sworn enemy of the abuse of finance in any of its manifestations. That could be indulging inflation as the financial outcome of governments and society living beyond their means, or investment banks deluding themselves they had uncovered the alchemy of risk-free lending through the issuance of ever more complex financial derivatives.His twin mantras were that finance should be the servant not the master of economy and society. And that good government is an indispensable component of a good society, in particular keeping the temptations of clever-clever finance at bay. Sound money and good government went hand in hand. He practised what he preached, seizing the opportunity to embody his beliefs when the moment arrived. Continue reading...
Our film American Factory shows the damaging effect of reverse globalisation. British Steel should take heedFor Jill Lamantia, driving a forklift was the easy part of a hard life. Like countless other industrial workers in our hometown of Dayton, Ohio, Lamantia was excited that Fuyao Glass – a major Chinese company – had bought and reopened our abandoned General Motors factory. She had a job again.In her new role, after clocking off at the end of each shift, Lamantia retreated to a small brick house. Clutching spare keys, she would shut the front door and descend the stairs, squeezing past cleaning products on a mop rack. This Midwestern grandmother and former homeowner was living in her sister’s basement. Fuyao is the world’s leading automotive glassmaker. Based in China’s Fujian province, the company surprised many by exporting Chinese jobs to, of all places, America. In 2014 its billionaire founder, chairman and owner, Cao Dewang, saw the symbolic power in buying the gutted GM factory and rehiring scores of former employees such as Lamantia to make glass for the windscreens of motor vehicles manufactured in the US.Related: The Obamas' first film: will American Factory be the biggest documentary of 2019?Related: American Factory review – a sobering documentary by the Obamas Continue reading...
Brexit, climate change and the next recession mean central banking is in danger of becoming a failed paradigm that needs replacingThe appointment of Andrew Bailey as governor of the Bank of England is a safety-first move. The central banker knows his way around the City and it is reasonable to assume that he can stand up for the finance sector in the coming years of tough negotiations with Brussels. Mr Bailey has made a point of saying that Britain, home to Europe’s largest financial centre, must not become a “taker†of EU rules after it leaves the bloc. Tellingly, he is viewed by former Treasury chiefs as “one of usâ€. But is this enough, given the age we live in? The last three Bank of England governors have been big figures on the international stage, with the incumbent, Mark Carney, being a central banker whose words move markets. Mr Bailey, for all that he is an insider’s insider, is not in the same mould. Britain ducked its chance to hire such a transformational figure, which is strange given what lies ahead. We are all born with imperfect foresight, but there are three dangers to the country’s economy clearly visible on the horizon: Brexit, climate change and the next recession. We know next to nothing about Mr Bailey’s thoughts on how to deal with these.Since 2016 Mr Bailey has run the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority. While his predecessor fined banks billions of dollars for trying to rig interest-rate benchmarks and foreign exchange markets, Mr Bailey took a softly-softly approach to the City. A key review into banking culture seen as core to restoring trust in banks disappeared with this new outlook. Earlier this month, a representative of victims of a City mini-bond scandal walked out of a meeting with Mr Bailey, accusing the FCA of not holding to account the financial firms it regulates under his stewardship. Whistleblowers say he failed to investigate alleged wrongdoing in high-street banks. He also was criticised by MPs for allowing banks “to continue to rip people off†when the regulator’s review of high-cost credit fell short of capping onerous rates. The view is that he backed the City over the consumer. Continue reading...
Donald Trump promises that a US-China trade pact will be signed ‘very shortly’A pre-Christmas rally fuelled by hopes of waning trade tensions have pushed share prices to a fresh high and on course for their biggest rise in a decade.Donald Trump’s promise that a US-China trade pact would be signed “very shortly†sent the MSCI gauge of stock markets around the world to new record levels.Related: Trump's lack of strategic vision is going to make China great again | Nouriel Roubini Continue reading...
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as China gives the world economy a festive gift and Dennis Muilenburg is removed from Boeing
Low borrowing costs led to 14,500 additional babies being born in 2009, researchers sayNew research by the Bank of England has shown that its efforts a decade ago to prevent a 1930s-style depression had the spin-off effect of boosting Britain’s birth rate.The Bank’s study found that the emergency slashing of interest rates in the winter of 2008-09 cut the household bills for families on floating rate mortgages and made having children more affordable. Continue reading...