Jubilee Debt Campaign says 126 nations spend more than 10% of revenues on interestThe expected rise in US interest rates will increase financial pressures on developing countries already struggling with a 60% jump in their debt repayments since 2014, a leading charity has warned.The Jubilee Debt Campaign said a study of 126 developing nations showed that they were devoting more than 10% of their revenues on average to paying the interest on money borrowed – the highest level since before the G7 agreement to write off the debts of the world’s poorest nations at Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005. Continue reading...
US protectionism is in accord with the spirit of the times – but it won’t have a happy endingMuch to the delight of Hollywood, Donald Trump wants to open a new front in his trade offensive by punishing China for theft of America’s intellectual property rights.The US entertainment industry is not awfully keen on Trump, having strongly backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, but is even less keen on its movies and TV shows being ripped off by the world’s most populous country.Related: Trump tariffs: China warns trade war would be 'disaster' Continue reading...
The president claims he wants to support blue-collar workers – but that notion soon collapses into a pool of implausibilityDonald Trump is perhaps the US president best equipped to understand that some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.His personal business plan always involved racking up enormous deficits and debts, before finding a way to unload them on to others – his employees and creditors mostly.Related: Minted: the rich guys in Trump's cabinet who can't resist public moneyThe fact is, Donald Trump is only pretending to care about the trade deficit Continue reading...
Research and development in Britain relies hugely on companies that are themselves dependent on close EU tiesThere is a warning to the government in the latest official figures on research and development: they reveal that most of the research is being done by the three industries most vulnerable to Brexit.Another red flag is the UK’s 11th-place ranking in the European R&D league – behind the Nordics, France and Germany, which we have come to expect, but also, surprisingly, Austria, Slovenia and the Czechs.For years, pharma companies have milked the EU’s R&D budget, using it to subsidise some of their most basic research Continue reading...
The country named the world’s happiest in a UN report was relatively slow to recover after the financial crisisIf you can’t buy happiness, perhaps you should move to Helsinki. Finland has emerged from a 10-year economic depression to be ranked by the UN last week as the happiest place to live on the planet. The most important factor in Finland topping the UN’s happiness ranking is the country’s history of equality. It has managed to strike an amicable balance between the sexes, between workers and bosses, and within the education and welfare systems. An equal society can bond together to survive the bad times when so many countries pull themselves apart.At the turn of the century Finland was riding high. It boasted one of the world’s most successful tech companies – Nokia – and a had a well-deserved reputation for embracing the internet revolution. It had escaped from the shadow of the Soviet Union to become a robust neighbour to Russia.There is balance between the sexes, between workers and bosses, and within the education and welfare systems Continue reading...
Senior economics commentator Aditya Chakrabortty was joined by an expert panel and more than 400 Guardian supportersIn 2002, Preston, Lancashire – a vibrant industrial town in the north of England – attained city status and struck out on its own, adopting a form of guerrilla localism. It keeps its money as close to home as possible so that, despite major spending cuts nationally, the amount spent locally has gone up. Where other authorities privatise, Preston grows its own businesses. It even creates worker-owned cooperatives.After a wealth of positive feedback in response to senior economics commentator Aditya Chakrabortty’s Alternatives series, looking at how we can make the economy work for everyone, and notably his piece on the Preston model, we decided to host a Guardian Live event in the city to meet some of the people making it happen.There’s a palpable appetite for something different. There’s been a shift in public mood Continue reading...
Underpaid teachers are on the frontline as the impact of cuts to other services is felt in the classroomWhen the Conservatives first took Britain down the path of budget austerity in 2010, schools were meant to be protected. George Osborne, chancellor at the time, was confident in the public’s readiness to tolerate most cuts, but even he realised that taking money away from education was toxic.As with similar promises on NHS spending, the “ring-fence†around the schools budget turns out to be woefully inadequate. Research published on Friday by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), an independent thinktank, finds that a quarter of English secondary schools are running a deficit. No one with knowledge of the education sector imagines those budget overruns describe managerial largesse. The problem is not enough incoming cash to cover the cost of running a school. Continue reading...
Larry Kudlow, Trump’s pick as chief economic adviser, has a history of radically different views to the president’s on the economyLarry Kudlow, the CNBC commentator who has agreed to serve as Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser, has a rich history of wildly inaccurate economic prognostications and radically different views to the president’s. Only time will tell if his opinions on Trump, free trade, tariffs and the state of political discourse will prove any more accurate ...Related: Larry Kudlow: TV pundit to replace Gary Cohn as Trump's top economic adviser Continue reading...
A decade on from the crash and with the Brexit fog clearing, there’s an opportunity to make real and lasting changeOne of the many lessons learned since the world plunged into economic crisis a decade ago is that forecasts need to be taken with a large pinch of salt. Consider the evidence. As the biggest bubble in history was being pumped up, the International Monetary Fund said financial markets had never been safer. The Bank of England failed to recognise the possibility that there might be a recession even when the economy was already in one. And as Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies has noted, a decade later earnings are still below their pre-crisis peak and the economy is 14% smaller than it would have been had it continued on its pre-2008 path. Nobody predicted that either.The list of those caught with their trousers down includes the Office for Budget Responsibility, the body created by George Osborne to provide independent expert forecasts for the government. Twice a year since 2010 the OBR has published a health check on the economy, and for many years it dutifully predicted that Britain was about to shake off its post-recession blues. The OBR’s yardstick for this was productivity growth, the amount of output per hour worked, which historically has risen by slightly more than 2% a year but which collapsed during the financial crisis.Related: 'Tigger' Philip Hammond is full of bounce – but long-term outlook is gloomy | Larry ElliottThings have turned out much better than the Treasury envisaged. There has not been the deep recession Osborne predictedRelated: Philip Hammond hints at public spending increases later this year Continue reading...
Conservative commentator was chosen from a shortlist of just one candidate for one of the most powerful posts in the administrationOut with the Goldman Sachs banker and in with the TV show anchor. On Wednesday Donald Trump was preparing to announce that CNBC host and conservative commentator Larry Kudlow would replace Gary Cohn as director of the White House’s National Economic Council.Kudlow, 70, best known as a CNBC commentator and outspoken proponent of free trade and low taxes, is in many ways a contradictory fit with Trump’s “America First†agenda. Continue reading...
Ian McIlwee says the chancellor should be investing in building safety, and Paul Nicolson wants the government to act now to tackle povertyWhile it’s encouraging to hear the chancellor commit to investment for raising housing supply in his spring statement (Report, 14 March), the question should be asked why an allocation of this budget is not being diverted to fund the vital safety works that are needed on existing buildings. Fire safety concerns have been building up for a number of years, as a result of ineffective maintenance or of fundamental design, specification and installation problems. Grenfell has shone a spotlight on this, yet still financial and political barriers are preventing essential works from taking place and leaving vulnerable people sleeping in buildings that are potentially unsafe. As the collateral costs of Grenfell become more apparent – and with reports that only three council-owned high-rises out of the 160 that failed the government’s fire safety tests have yet been reclad – it is imperative that the Treasury makes an allocation for such potentially life-critical work.We believe that the solution is a building safety fund, similar to the Pension Protection Fund. The fund would allow housing associations and local authorities to focus on what needs to be done while applying to the scheme to fund the works. Continue reading...
by Angela Monaghan and Richard Partington on (#3J5MF)
Scrapping 1p and 2p coins will damage fundraising for smaller charities, sector warnsScrapping 1p and 2p coins would damage smaller charities that rely on traditional bucket collections for the majority of their funding, the sector has warned.The future of copper coins is in doubt after the Treasury suggested it would consider scrapping them as consumers rely more on contactless payments than cash.Related: Brassed off! The backlash against binning 1p and 2p coinsCampaign to retain the 1p coin starts now. To abolish penny would be to give into inflation and to trash 1000 years of history. #soundmoney Continue reading...
by Presented by Aditya Chakrabortty; produced by Lily on (#3J4TS)
Aditya Chakrabortty speaks to John Clark, about how instead of selling off his business to the highest bidder, he decided to explore how he could transfer ownership to those with the best interests of the company at heart: its employeesSubscribe and review on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom and Mixcloud. Join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter and email us at Politicsweekly@theguardian.comWhen John Clark decided to sell his successful sign-printing business Novograf he received interest from a large American firm. But when it emerged that such a deal would mean the factory outside Glasgow almost certainly being shut, he decided to explore other options. He tells Aditya Chakrabortty how the idea of employee ownership almost literally dropped into his lap – and how it offered the possibility of ensuring the lasting survival of a business he had worked so hard to build. Continue reading...
Tax and welfare changes introduced by George Osborne in 2010 will continue to push children into poverty unless we rethinkOn Tuesday, the chancellor announced that the government’s debt would start to fall relative to GDP – a target originally set by George Osborne in 2010. Back then, the then chancellor said “We’re all in this togetherâ€, while in 2012 his chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, told delegates at the Liberal Democrat conference: “We simply will not allow the books to be balanced in a way that hits the poorest hardest.†On Wednesday, the Equality and Human Rights Commission publishes our research, which contains the most detailed and thorough assessment yet of those claims.Our analysis shows that, contrary to Alexander’s pledge, changes to taxes and welfare payments since 2010 have indeed hit the poorest hardest, whether you look at the record of the 2010-15 coalition government or that of the Conservative government elected in May 2015. Some changes, such as increases in the personal allowance and the minimum wage, have boosted incomes; but others, especially cuts to benefits and tax credits, more than offset this.The precise mix of reforms was a political choice. It was not inevitable that the most vulnerable would bear the bruntThe main poverty indicator used in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's study is the number of households that have income levels of less than 60% of median income. Using the same measure, the UK was ranked 22nd out of 35 in an international league table of child poverty rates in rich nations put together by Unicef in 2012.Related: Philip Hammond can’t ignore the anger caused by austerity | Matthew d’Ancona Continue reading...
Thinktank upgrades its growth forecast but says tit-for-tat tariffs would make international trade vulnerableThe west’s leading economic thinktank has warned Donald Trump that a trade war prompted by US protectionism threatens to derail a recovery in global growth, which has reached its highest level in seven years.In its latest interim forecasts, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said it expected the world economy to expand by 3.9% in both 2018 and 2019 – a 0.3 percentage point upgrade in each year from its last set of predictions last November.1. Extreme weather events Continue reading...
Chancellor’s spring statement suggests that drop in deficit may release money for servicesPhilip Hammond has dropped the broadest possible hint that he will announce spending increases later this year as he sought to use a modest improvement in the public finances to indicate more money was on the way for hard-pressed public services.The chancellor seized on new forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility showing a £5bn drop in the government’s budget deficit to say that he expected to have scope to act in his autumn budget. Hammond was accused of “astounding complacency†by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, but said higher spending had to be accompanied by further action to reduce government borrowing and the national debt.Related: Spring statement 2018: the chancellor's key points at a glanceRelated: 'Tigger' Philip Hammond is full of bounce – but long-term outlook is gloomy | Larry ElliottNot that much to be Tiggerish about here. Growth forecasts dreadful compared with what we thought in March 2016, dreadful by historical standards and dreadful compared with most of the rest of the world. https://t.co/qw1tZ9zy5W Continue reading...
Philip Hammond continues to take advantage of the fallout of the financial crisis to shrivel the British state. The problem is that his policies are shrinking the economy fasterThis country is supposed to leave the European Union in 2019. Just when Britain needs to muster all its resources, the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts the economy will grow at only 1.3% – half the rate it did a decade ago. Clearly, something has gone badly wrong. Yet instead of identifying the problem and fixing it, Conservative chancellors have made a bad situation worse by running perverse austerity programmes. Philip Hammond had a chance to change tack today and adopt a new economic model based on an activist fiscal policy which would boost public spending and produce the jobs people want and need. This would have been a message of hope and security in bewildering times.But Mr Hammond was unmoved. Instead he labelled detractors of his austerity plans “Eeyoresâ€, claiming he was more Tiggerish about the UK’s outlook. Pooh-like is a polite way of describing such unwarranted optimism. The chancellor’s plans for a sustainable recovery rest upon a combination of marketisation, public spending restraint – alleviated by some extra cash – and tax cuts. These are just the same failed austerity policies repackaged for a wearier age. The chancellor continues to take advantage of the fallout of the financial crisis to shrivel the state. His problem is that his policies are shrinking the economy faster. Continue reading...
Country will continue paying divorce bill until at least 2064, predicts budget watchdogThe UK will save no money from leaving the European Union over the next five years and could be paying its Brexit divorce bill until at least 2064, according to the government’s independent budget watchdog.Outlining the cost of severing links with the EU, the Office for Budget Responsibility said government spending up until 2023 would have been the same if the UK had voted to remain in the 2016 referendum.
Chancellor put a positive spin on the economy, but OBR thinks it will take many years to get betterCall me Tigger. That was Philip Hammond’s message to MPs in his spring statement as he sought to shed his reputation for being the cabinet’s Eeyore, always seeing the cloud to every silver lining.Growth had been revised up by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, Hammond said, while the budget deficit had been revised down. Manufacturing was enjoying its longest unbroken run of growth in 50 years. Before too long, wages would start rising faster than prices.Related: Spring statement: Brexit divorce bill could be £37.1bn; 2p might be abolished - live updatesRelated: Spring statement 2018: the chancellor's key points at a glance Continue reading...
Tax reform, productivity, trade, public services: the spring statement had no answer on issues plaguing the UK economyThe chancellor widely briefed that this statement would not move the earth. And it delivered: it was not a “fiscal event†– but it should have been. Urgent action is required in three areas: clamping down on corporation tax avoidance; addressing the crisis in public services; and long-term reforms to make the economy fairer and more sustainable.In the week when it was revealed that tax paid by multinationals has been in consistent decline, the case for reforms to corporation tax are overwhelming and urgent. Our proposal at the Institute for Public Policy Research for an “alternative minimum corporation tax†for multinational companies – based on UK revenues and global profitability, and triggered by five years of low reported profits – would tackle avoidance and ensure a level playing field with the vast majority of responsible businesses that pay the taxes they owe. But cancelling the further planned cut to corporation tax was the very least the chancellor could have done.The UK economy remains precarious. A poor Brexit deal could hit demand from the rest of the worldRelated: Spring statement 2018: the chancellor's key points at a glance Continue reading...
by Heather Stewart and Richard Partington on (#3J22C)
Chancellor says economy will beat forecasts and that Britain’s ‘best days lie ahead of us’Philip Hammond promised Britain that “our best days lie ahead of usâ€, as he delivered an upbeat spring statement paving the way for a boost to public spending in the autumn.Hailing a modest improvement in economic forecasts, and what he called a “turning point†in the public finances, the chancellor sought to shrug off his image as the cabinet’s Eeyore, insisting he was “at my most positively Tigger-likeâ€.Related: Spring statement: Hammond accused of 'astounding complacency' after seeing light at end of the tunnel - live updatesRelated: Spring statement 2018: the chancellor's key points at a glance Continue reading...
IMF chief says cryptocurrency’s own blockchain technology could be used to control itChristine Lagarde has called for a crackdown on bitcoin by using the technology behind the digital currency to “fight fire with fireâ€.The head of the International Monetary Fund said authorities around the world could harness the potential of cryptocurrencies to help bring them under control, warning that failure to do so would allow the unfettered development of a “potentially major new vehicle for money laundering and the financing of terrorismâ€.
The chancellor’s spring statement won’t address it, but evidence that the Conservatives’ cuts have failed is everywhereThe chancellor, Philip Hammond, and his fellow Conservatives are being careful to badge the spring statement as a non-event – no tax or spending announcements. The budget in November was devoid of substance, and now Hammond will use his platform to tell the public – desperate nurses, struggling single mums, cash-starved local authorities – to wait. But given the mounting evidence that shows austerity is bad for the economy, growing public dissatisfaction, weakened levels of investment as well as the rising human costs – what is he waiting for? The truth is he’s not waiting; he’s trying to hoodwink us. There is no light at the end of the tunnel because since 2010 we have been in a tunnel that leads only to one place – a small state with government-sanctioned hardship and a weaker economy.Related: Philip Hammond can’t ignore the anger caused by austerity | Matthew d’AnconaEnding austerity isn’t just a matter of no longer cutting; it requires reversing the cuts and increasing spending Continue reading...
UK was offered tariff-free goods trade, as long as it continued the EU’s existing access to its watersWelcome to the Guardian’s weekly Brexit briefing. If you would like to receive it as a weekly email, please sign up here. You can also catch up with our Brexit Means … podcast right here.
What the chancellor is likely to say about economic growth, debt, borrowing and morePhilip Hammond has promised MPs a short, snappy affair when he delivers the government’s first spring statement to the Commons at about 12.30pm on Tuesday.Shorn of tax and spending measures, the chancellor’s 15- to 20-minute speech will play second fiddle to the budget, which has been moved to the autumn. Continue reading...
Survey shows hospitality sector expects a busier period for hiring than other parts of the economyHotels, restaurants, pubs and bars are preparing to hire at the fastest pace in a year, with many being forced to act due to growing fears of an exodus of migrant workers as Britain leaves the European Union.Despite a downturn in consumer spending forcing restaurant chains to close outlets en masse, the hospitality sector is expecting a busier period for hiring staff than any other part of the economy over the coming three months. Continue reading...
The government has no intention of trying to remedy the terrible damage austerity has inflicted on the lives of so manyBravo! Well done, Britain! It’s “a remarkable national effort,†gloats chief architect George Osborne, “we got there in the endâ€. Making his spring statement, chancellor Philip Hammond may allow himself a funereal glimmer of an almost smile. The current account deficit has been starved down to its 2% target. So easy! Any dieter determined to lose weight can just lop off their legs and, hey presto, the scales will say they made it. Swallowing tape-worms or emetic poisons will do it too. Easy if you ignore collateral damage, human suffering, irrecoverable losses and economic paralysis. Easy if your aim is ideological state-shrinkage.Wherever you look, you see the harm. Some can be fixed: leaking school buildings, closed libraries, neglected parks and playgrounds. But too much is beyond repair. You can’t summon up the skills and deep experience of all the teachers, nurses, doctors, administrators and technicians who have not been trained and hired to fill the gaps. Hard to replace those who have burned out under unbearable pressure. What of the million public servants gone, as Whitehall frantically tries to hire lost expertise to cope with Brexit?Child poverty will rise quickly, as benefit freezes, cuts and rising prices far outweigh minimum wage increasesRelated: A triumph for George Osborne’s austerity plan? Not when our social fabric is in tatters | Ann Pettifor Continue reading...
Ex-Wickes and Iceland boss Bill Grimsey says its time to take stock of retail changesRetail tsar Bill Grimsey is to again lead a troubleshooting task force looking to revive Britain’s high streets after a string of collapses prompted fresh fears that town centres will become semi-derelict.Grimsey, a retail veteran who previously headed up Wickes and Iceland, led an influential independent review back in 2013 but is to revisit the subject amid the failure of Maplin and Toys R Us.Related: Debenhams to rent flagship store space to hot deskers Continue reading...
Economic reports on falling high street footfall and credit card spending challenge Philip Hammond’s narrativeA chorus of downbeat reports on the health of the British economy published on Monday presents a sharp contrast to the chancellor Phillip Hammond’s spring statement message that there is “light at the end of the tunnelâ€.Credit card company Visa said spending on cards fell again in February, dropping 1.1%, and that the first quarter of 2018 was on track to be the “worst on recordâ€. It said spending by consumers had fallen in nine out the past 10 months. Continue reading...
Tuesday’s speech promises studied blandness. Instead it should promise an end to the austerity causing such damage to families and public servicesThis week Philip Hammond will rise to make what will be perhaps the most unmemorable speech on the economic state of this country’s affairs that MPs have ever heard. Reports say that it will feature no spending increases and no tax changes in a low-key oration designed to go largely unnoticed by the wider public. The chancellor’s attempts to keep his speech out of headlines might be derailed by an assessment of Brexit Britain’s future annual payments to the European Union. If it were not for a legal requirement to respond to the Office for Budget Responsibility, Mr Hammond would not be saying anything at all.This is a mistake; Britain is at a pivotal point in its history. It has recovered more slowly from the economic shock of 2008 than any other crash in modern times. UK GDP growth is slowing while our biggest trading partners have seen their economies infused with vigour. Mr Hammond says there is “light at the end of the tunnelâ€. Yet Britain’s prospects look dim – and the shade of Brexit is barely upon the nation. Continue reading...
The demand and complexity of cases is increasing at the same time that our council budgets are being reduced, write cabinet leads for children’s services in north-west EnglandAs the cabinet leads for children’s services in the north-west of England we are urging the chancellor to allocate the additional funds we need to address the growing crisis in children’s social care. The demand and complexity of cases is increasing, creating overspends in our children’s services budgets, at the same time that our council budgets are being reduced. This is an unsustainable financial demand for each of our councils.In the north-west there are now more than 13,000 looked-after children. This represents a 20-year high and is the greatest number of children in care of any region in England. This has been driven by growth of 12% since 2013 alone, double the 6% increase in the rest of the country. Analysis from the Placements Northwest census identifies sharp escalation in costs, for example a £45m increase in expenditure on residential care placements this year. We have recorded 90,930 referrals in 2016-17, which is an increase of 2% on the previous year. Our data suggests that this is being driven by the increase in domestic abuse and mental ill health. Continue reading...
Calls for investment are growing but despite being in a good position the UK chancellor won’t want to create wavesFor years Britain has had not one annual budget but two. The real deal – the one where the chancellor stands outside 11 Downing Street with his little red box – has been in the spring, but there has also been another round of tax and spending measures included in an autumn statement.Philip Hammond has changed all that. As of now, there will be only one big set-piece event each year and it will be a budget in the late autumn. This week we will see the first spring statement, a pared-down affair in which the chancellor will provide the latest economic and public finance forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, announce some areas for consultation and leave it at that. No tax sweeteners, no extra money for cabinet colleagues pleading for cash, no change to the government’s deficit-reduction approach.What is austerity?Gross domestic product (GDP) is a key government statistic and provides a measure of the UK's total economic activity. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Political correspondent on (#3HWNS)
Chancellor says public finances will improve but councils will not get major cash injectionThere is light at the end of the tunnel for the UK’s public finances, Philip Hammond has said, while strongly indicating that his financial statement this week is unlikely to herald any significant reduction in austerity.In his statement on Tuesday, which will bring no changes to tax or spending, the budget having been moved to autumn, the chancellor will set out the latest financial and debt figures. It has been reported that he will give a more upbeat assessment.Related: Chancellor’s spring statement is chance to sweeten years of austerity Continue reading...
The White House’s metals tariffs plan has numerous casualties, the big winner is the man in charge of trade and manufacturingDonald Trump’s threatened trade tariffs have claimed many victims: international trade, domestic steel consumers and Trump’s dissenting economic adviser Gary Cohn. But so far there has been one big winner – Peter Navarro, director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.Navarro was a key architect of Trump’s “America First†policy of economic nationalism and a tireless critic of China’s economic policies – one of his books is decorated with a map of America being stabbed in the heart with a knife marked Made in China.Related: Trump's tariffs are mere political theater | James K Galbraith Continue reading...
Cheap borrowing since 2010 has fuelled property purchases and cappuccinos rather than skilled jobs and improved infrastructureThe chancellor’s budget remarks on Tuesday, now downgraded as a “policy-neutral†spring statement, will be a chance to look in the rear-view mirror and see what a missed opportunity the past eight years have been.It was a period dominated by George Osborne’s portrayal of the UK as a sinking ship, where every Whitehall department needed to be scaled down, welfare spending cut and some services provided by the state thrown overboard.The UK version of austerity was a leeches and mercury remedy, with George Osborne more akin to an 18th-century doctor than a 21st-century economic strategist Continue reading...
Trump imposes tariffs. The EU uses its scale to threaten a major response. Where will an isolated UK be when the giants clash?For me, one of the great tests of a play, film or opera is that it should be so absorbing that one’s mind switches off from day-to-day, mundane concerns.The Churchill film Darkest Hour is an exception that proves the rule. How could one possibly not reflect on the present failure of British leadership as we are reminded of the way Churchill rose to the occasion in the face of powerful opposition?Terrible things are going on in the world at present. Brexit has not yet happened Continue reading...
For parents who have been enjoying the freedom of living child-free, now comes research to spoil it allThe bedrooms have been redecorated in grown-up colours, the 25-year-old soft toys chucked out, the washing machine is blissfully underused and, thanks to the apparent current raging addictions of baby boomers, a holiday or two – cruising in the Med, the Antarctic, anywhere that avoids dry land – have been booked. And then they’re back.According to a recent study by the London School of Economics (LSE), adult children who return to the family home after a period away – often at university – cause a significant decline in their parents’ quality of life and wellbeing.It’s not easy for a twentysomething having to witness the daily spectacle of baby boomers bent on rediscovering their 60s mojoRelated: Boomerang offspring damage parents' wellbeing, study findsRelated: Ten ways for parents to survive an empty nest Continue reading...
Both Britain and America have championed free trade from a position of global strength. But their views in the past were very differentFor steel and aluminium read wool. For trade rivalry between the US and China read the struggle between England and the Low Countries. For Donald Trump read Edward III. There is nothing new about the use of protectionism as a policy tool.England in the 14th century was in a similar position to a poor developing country today. It produced a lot of a staple commodity – wool – which it exported across the Channel to be turned into cloth by Flemish weavers.Washington’s support for free trade started to wane when its industrial supremacy was threatened by Japan in the 1980s Continue reading...
The EU does not want the president’s tariffs to create a spiral of retaliation. But Europe is a target – and a battle looks inevitableBlast furnace B will fire up this summer in Granite City, Illinois, giving up to 500 steel workers a job and offering President Donald Trump a fitting emblem for his campaign to put America first. Mothballed for several years by US Steel, the blast furnace sits next to the Missouri river, north of St Louis, where it will smelt iron made newly competitive by Trump’s decision to slap a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on aluminium, including from the UK and Europe.Within hours of Trump first propounding his protectionist move in a tweet, the European commission hit back with the threat of its own measures: extra tariffs on everything from orange juice to Harley-Davidson motorbikes. Continue reading...
The Wisconsin manufacturer is struggling with falling sales – and Trump’s tariffs on steel imports could add $30m to its costsHarley-Davidson is not having a great year. In January, the legendary bike company, struggling to reverse a four-year slide in sales, had to close its Kansas City factory. Now Donald Trump – who seems as if he’d like to be a Harley man – has added to its woes.This week’s announcement of steel tariffs on US imports could add $30m to the company’s costs, according to Wedbush Securities, an investment firm. Worse still, European leaders are threatening retaliation, and several symbols of Americana – including Kentucky whiskey, Levi’s and Harley-Davidson motorcycles – are on their list.Related: China promises 'necessary response' to US tariffs as trade war fears grow Continue reading...
British politics and culture feel nostalgic about the Commonwealth and hope to rekindle the old relationship. But the reality is not so simpleThe countdown to leave the European Union began in the British summer of 2016, but nobody in the country seemed to know in which direction they were headed. Those who voted to leave don’t know what kind of future they would like; those who voted to stay don’t know what they can do to stop the process they are certain will create only misery. British politicians from the two major parties – Conservative and Labour – aren’t helping.The Conservatives are led by a prime minister who voted to stay and seems reluctant to leave the EU; Labour is led by a man who never wanted the UK to join the EU, and must somehow convince voters who wish to remain that he can strike a better bargain.Like a divorcee on the rebound, Britain is now desperately seeking to woo its old flame, the CommonwealthRelated: EU scorns UK's 'pick and mix' approach to trade post-BrexitRelated: Jeremy Corbyn insists UK cannot remain in single market after BrexitRelated: The next head of the Commonwealth must not be a royal from Brexit Britain | Nalini MohabirRelated: Dunkirk and Darkest Hour fuel Brexit fantasies – even if they weren’t meant to | Ian JackOne of the major legacies of the British empire is a body of laws that curb civil libertiesRelated: Who can save the post-Brexit economy? Black professors | Bernadine Idowu-Onibokun Continue reading...
As the man relied on to make sense of the numbers in the chancellor’s spring statement, the IFS director warns that cuts have taken Britain to crunch point – and that Brexit will make it worseWhen the chancellor Philip Hammond sits down on Tuesday after delivering his first spring statement – the streamlined replacement for what we used to call the budget – one man will be greatly in demand, popping up on every media outlet to tell us what the figures on borrowing levels and the projected deficit really mean. That man is Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). I suggest to him that his official role is to pour a bucket of cold water over Hammond’s head, and he doesn’t disagree. “Economics is the dismal science, after all,†he says.Happily, 51-year-old Johnson is not at all dismal. He is clever, sparky and down to earth – probably because he sees life through the lens of a father with four demanding sons going through the education system. He crunches all the numbers, but he also understands the personal stories behind those numbers. He has written about how his dyslexic second son has battled through further education and been disappointed by the threadbare nature of Britain’s vocational training system. That, in turn, informs his critique of a society unduly preoccupied with universities and graduates. Johnson, despite a mildly nerdy manner, is the opposite of the ivory-towered academic.Related: Stretched councils raid reserves to cope with social care, NAO warnsRelated: Brexit opponents raise alarm over bleak impact analysis reports Continue reading...
Mark Murton on austerity’s failings, and Angela Crum Ewing and Jane Ghosh on the pay rise for NHS staffGPs have taken the unprecedented step of urging patients to write to their MPs about the funding crisis in the NHS (Complain to your MPs, top doctor tells patients amid worst ever A&E figures, 9 March). This situation, and the crisis in public services that has left councils at the point of bankruptcy, did not need to happen. Many of the cuts are a false economy that do not lead to savings.A report from Policy in Practice showed that in Croydon the benefit cap, which was supposed to save the taxpayer money, led to evictions, and it calculated the cost of just one homeless application to the council to be around £8,000. Continue reading...
ONS January data also shows trade deficit widening, raising concerns about robustness of Britain’s economyAn unexpected decline in housebuilding meant the UK construction industry contracted for the ninth month in a row in January.The number of new homes built dropped 9% compared with the previous month as the threat of higher interest rates and rising labour costs deterred building firms from starting new projects. Continue reading...