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Updated 2025-01-11 20:31
Beware the dangerous orthodoxy of neoclassical economics | Letters
Academics Hugh Goodacre and Jeffrey Henderson voice their concern at the dominance of neoclassical theory in modern economics teaching, while Peter Swann and David Redshaw highlight the failures of recent economic models. John Clifford thinks August Strindberg was right all alongMy colleagues at University College London, professors Blundell, Machin, Attanasio and others, are to be congratulated for providing such a succinct outline of the neoclassical school of thought in economics (Letters, 22 December). The ideas and methods of that school of thought, and those currents of research which accept its intellectual hegemony within the economics discipline (behavioural economics, game theory, etc) should undoubtedly be part of any curriculum taught to economics students today.What is objectionable in the standpoint of such adherents of this dominant school of thought, however, is the doctrine that there are “no schools of thought in economics”, by which they mean, of course, that there is no other school of thought apart from their own. This idea – absurd as it appears to anyone who follows discussions on economic issues in the media and public life – has unfortunately become reality in the economics department of UCL and all too many other universities today, due to the ruthless exploitation by the dominant orthodoxy of its freedom to appoint and promote academic staff. Continue reading...
Barclays says Trump tax changes will knock £1bn off its profits
Bank is one of many financial institutions around the world facing writedowns due to biggest changes to US tax code since 1980sBarclays has said Donald Trump’s US tax changes will knock about £1bn off its profits.The bank said the bill, which was signed into law last week, would make it harder for it to deduct past losses from future tax bills. Continue reading...
Britons borrow an average £452 each on credit cards at Christmas
Survey by uSwitch finds that half of people worry they will still be trying to clear the debt by next DecemberThe Christmas spending hangover means that Britons who splurged on plastic will start 2018 owing an average of more than £450 on their credit cards – with many fearful the debt will still be haunting them by next Christmas.Nearly £8.5bn has been loaded on to cards to cover the cost of gifts and entertaining, according to research by the price comparison service uSwitch, which found nearly a fifth of consumers had exceeded their Christmas budget as they grappled with rising living costs. Continue reading...
Back to front: why switching queues will get you nowhere faster
Harvard Business School finds that people are four times more likely to quit a line if there is no-one else waiting behind themNo-one relishes the moment. You are stuck at the back of a queue and as those in other lines sail past and get served, the time to decide arrives. Do you hold your nerve and stay put, switch to another line in the hope it moves faster, or give up altogether?The pressing question has now been tackled by research at Harvard Business School. It found that when a person finds themselves at the end of a queue, they can make decisions that swiftly backfire. And it is all down to our aversion to being last.
Philip Hammond urged to publish Treasury's Brexit impact studies
Labour MPs write to chancellor saying public have right to see documents examining range of outcomes of BrexitPhilip Hammond has come under pressure to publish another set of hidden documents relating to how a series of possible Brexit outcomes, including no deal, will impact on the economy.
Boxing Day sales: shoppers spend big but footfall down on last year
Online discounts and rising prices fail to deter enthusiastic shoppers – but crowd numbers are down on Christmas 2016, analysts sayMillions of Britons have enjoyed a last hurrah in the Boxing Day sales with determined shoppers camping out in the early hours to secure the best bargains although crowds were smaller than in previous years.Shoppers started queuing outside branches of high street chain Next at 12.30am while on Oxford Street, in London a crowd started forming outside Selfridges at 2.30am. However, retail experts said that overall shopper numbers were significantly down on 2016.Related: Black Friday lifts UK retail sales despite income squeezeRelated: Boom time on Irish border as shoppers take advantage of weak pound Continue reading...
The Guardian view on capitalism without capital | Editorial
An idea whose time has come: Over the holiday season the Guardian is examining themes that have emerged to give shape to 2018. Today we look at intangible economiesNo country is governed by a Capitalist party, although there is no shortage of capitalism on the planet. There have been Socialist parties for socialism, Liberal parties for liberalism and Communist parties for communism. Yet acolytes of the most powerful model of all are reluctant to brand themselves with its name. One reason is that the word “capitalism” was popularised by its critics. The most common usage is pejorative, denoting a system characterised by exploitation of workers by bosses. Another reason is that there are too many kinds of capitalism in practice for any single party to claim ownership of the idea. In the west the pendulum swung between more liberal and dirigiste modes, while the underlying structure stayed remarkably stable. But that doesn’t make it permanent. Already a digital revolution has transformed the way business is done. What if it is changing the nature of capitalism itself?The rise of a handful of vast corporate powerhouses whose business models have no instructive precedent from the analogue-era forces a reappraisal of the way capitalist economies work. The top seven highest valued companies in the world are all in the technology sector. Titans such as Alphabet (which owns Google) and Facebook specialise in products that do not exist in three-dimensional space. Apple and Amazon sell real-world objects as well as concepts, but their fortunes and market dominance have been built on nebulous concepts – models, brands and algorithms. Continue reading...
Six factors influencing the UK property market in 2018
It could be a better year in Britain’s dysfunctional housing market for first-time buyers and tenants1. Interest rates will stay low
UK house price growth to slow dramatically in 2018, say experts
Fear of interest rate rise and Brexit expected to either halt house price growth or result in a small below-inflation riseHouse price growth looks set to judder to a halt in 2018 or at best manage a small below-inflation rise, as the twin spectres of Brexit and rising interest rates put the brakes on the property market.Following what some have called a lacklustre year, homeowners and those looking to sell in the coming months have been told to expect an underwhelming and subdued 2018, with a number of leading commentators predicting UK house prices will either stay flat next year or perhaps rise by 1% or so.
Annus mirabilis: all the things that went right in 2017
It was a tale of two years – the best of times and the worst of times. But not everything went wrong – from Mata’s 1% to orangutans, we look at the goodHow was it for you? A bit grim? Many people will be eager to see the back of 2017, the year of Trump, Twitter, terrorism, Yemen, Libya and the plight of the Rohingya, as well as environmental degradation and almost daily doomsday warnings about the multiplying threats to sustainable life on earth.But the big, bold headlines tell only half the story – perhaps not even that much. Away from the hysteria of daily news, it is possible to discern progress, joy, breakthroughs and that rarest commodity of all: optimism.Related: Alyssa Milano on the #MeToo movement: 'We're not going to stand for it any more' Continue reading...
The best of the Long Read in 2017
Our 20 favourite pieces of the yearEvery year, it seems like the world gets even worse and the Guardian publishes a hundred long reads about it. But this is only an illusion. In fact, we publish 150 long reads each year – there are three every single week! – and most of them are not about the failures of globalisation or the ecological devastation caused by mankind.Catching up with all of our stories from this year would take about 36 hours, if you finished each one in 15 minutes and didn’t take any breaks. But for those of you who can’t spare that kind of time, we have chosen our 20 best articles of 2017 – designed to provide you with at least a few hours of excellent holiday reading. Continue reading...
‘They see the potential’: why J-Lo and Gillette want a piece of the eSports action
With superstar backers and sponsorship from mainstream brands, competitive video gaming is hitting the big timeIf there are any doubts that computer games can become a mainstream spectator sport, then Jennifer Lopez and Stan Kroenke are not listening.The superstar singer and Arsenal’s majority shareholder have both put money into eSports teams, as the gaming competitions with millions of followers worldwide aim for even greater public appeal. Lopez has bought into a team franchise for the new Overwatch League, in which teams from cities such as Seoul, San Francisco and London play Overwatch, a mass-participation shooting game. The global competition for the game, which launches in January, also includes the LA Gladiators, run by Kroenke, a serial sports entrepreneur.Related: eSports are real sports. It’s time for the Olympic video games | Tauriq MoosaRelated: The rise of eSports: are addiction and corruption the price of its success? Continue reading...
In austerity Britain, people need parks | Letters
Funding for public parks is being cut off just when they are needed more than ever to combat the stress of surviving in austerity Britain, says the Parks AgencyThe quietly announced news that the Heritage Lottery Fund is closing its Parks for People funding programme comes as a shock. It should be a matter of huge concern, not only to the 90% of families with children who visit their local park at least once a month, but to all who care about the wellbeing of our towns and cities. Since it was set up in 1996, the programme has transformed hundreds of urban parks from no-go areas to thriving community assets, paying not just for repairs to bandstands, lakes, paths, gates and other features but also for new cafes, toilets, play areas and funding for new staff.Austerity has hit parks departments particularly hard. As a non-statutory service, parks have been in the frontline of the cuts since 2010, with budgets falling on average by 40% – and in some cases by far more. Newcastle upon Tyne has seen a 90% fall, resulting in unprecedented plans to transfer the city’s parks to a charitable trust. Elsewhere, councils such as Knowsley are selling parks for development to fund future maintenance. Users have seen the impact in terms of loss of staff, reduced tidiness and increases in antisocial behaviour. Politicians, of course, have not. Continue reading...
New York's vanishing shops and storefronts: 'It's not Amazon, it's rent'
Vacant storefronts are becoming more noticeable in the capital of consumption, as small retailers are being pushed out by wealthy investorsWalk down almost any major New York street – say Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower, or Madison Avenue from midtown to the Upper East Side. Perhaps venture down Canal Street, or into the West Village around Bleecker, and some of the most expensive retail areas in the world are blitzed with vacant storefronts.The famed Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on the Upper West Side announced earlier this week that it is closing next month. A blow to the city’s cinephiles, certainly, but also a sign of the effects that rapid gentrification, coupled with technological innovation, are having on the city.Related: 'For too long, they have generated harm': the fight to remove offensive monuments in New YorkRelated: Hard times for Whole Foods: 'People say it's for pretentious people. I can see why' Continue reading...
Stock markets rally as Donald Trump plays Santa over tax
As the year draws to an end, the Dow and FTSE 100 are close to record highs – but there could be some volatility aheadIt’s a tradition of stock markets that December usually sees a Santa rally. This year, though, we’ve had a tax rally, thanks to Donald Trump’s business-friendly fiscal reforms, which finally made their tortuous way through the US legislative process.With just a few days left until the end of the year, US and UK markets are close to their record highs, with the FTSE 100 hitting a new peak a couple of days ago. Despite this belated achievement, the UK index has lagged others throughout the year, and even though European markets have fallen back recently on political concerns – German uncertainty and the latest Catalan election result – they have still outpaced UK shares thanks to Brexit worries and a recovering pound. Continue reading...
Complacent regulators have two years to prevent a financial crash
Outside Brexit Britain, the view looks rosy and borrowing is being pushed to new highs. What could go wrong? Almost everythingThere is a complacency in the air as we stumble into 2018. Global economic forecasts are coated with sugar. Stock markets keep heading skywards and borrowing is at an all-time high. Brexit may be a brick through the window of the UK’s economic outlook, but for the rest of the developed world, the view is decidedly rosy.Such is the exuberance among those with plenty of spare cash that there is a return of borrowing with the sole purpose of betting on stock market gains. To this end, investors are using any asset to hand – their house, their pension or their deposit savings – to get a boost from the alpha funds that promise stellar returns. Bitcoin is another feature of this relaxed attitude to risk. Who needs safety nets when there is no prospect of a fall? It’s not hard to see why the picture looks so rosy and why it is likely to conclude with an ugly denouement. Continue reading...
Foreign cash driving top-end house prices in Vancouver and Toronto
The value of some houses owned by non-residents is nearly 50% higher than those owned by residents in Toronto, analysis revealsForeign buyers are driving up the prices of homes in Canada’s two largest housing markets, according to research which will intensify the debate around overseas property ownership in the expensive cities of Vancouver and Toronto.
UK household spending slows to lowest level in almost six years
ONS figures show spend in third quarter of 2017 rose 1% on year before as impact of higher inflation hit living standardsSpending by UK households slowed to its lowest level in almost six years during 2017 as the impact of higher inflation hit living standards and forced people to prioritise their basic needs.The latest official figures show that consumers spent less on restaurants and hotels in the three months ending in September, but more on food, rent, fuel bills and transport.
Ideas for an economics in which people matter | Letters
The Green party co-leader Jonathan Bartley and others extol a universal basic income; academics including Orazio Attanasio defend economics and its models; the Adam Smith Institute’s Tim Worstall writes on the value of household labour; and William Sharp recalls the subtitle of Small is BeautifulIn decrying a universal basic income, Sonia Sodha has set up a straw man argument (Money for nothing is no panacea, 18 December). No serious proponent of UBI that I work with believes it is a silver bullet. Nor do we believe that it will suddenly fix the modern economy. It’s clear to all that the current economic system is broken. Inequality is rising, as are rates of depression, self-harm, isolation and loneliness, and our planet is being ruined by a system that values growth at all costs. We know that radical changes are also needed to our tax system, to employment rights, and to working practices. But UBI is part of changing the agenda. It turns on its head the way we view work and welfare, and it is one response to the important question we should all be asking: who is the economy for?Business as usual – whether that be the welfare state designed for a different age, or exploitative, endless work – should not be the only option. A basic income would provide everyone with basic security, but also choice. It would give them the freedom to explore life outside of work, taking the strain off both individual workers and our planet. It is a revolutionary idea that would invigorate communities and individual wellbeing.
Hammond gets early Christmas gift as public sector borrowing falls
Net borrowing at £8.7bn in November but chancellor warned improvement in public finances likely to be cut short in new yearPhilip Hammond has been handed an early Christmas present after government borrowing dipped in November, beating City expectations that the UK’s slowing economic growth would send the public finances deeper into the red.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show public sector net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, fell to £8.7bn in November, down £200m on the same month last year.
UK car production heads for first annual fall since financial crisis - as it happened
The number of cars made in UK factories fell 2% in the first 11 months of the year, putting the industry on course for its first annual fall in production since 2009, when Britain was in the depths of the financial crisis
Brexit helped push down living standards in 2017 – experts debate the data
What caused the slowdown and what’s in store for 2018? Two former MPC members discuss the economic indicatorsProfessor of economics at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, and member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee from June 2006 to May 2009Related: Brexit economy: a turbulent year ends on steadier groundRelated: How has the Brexit vote affected the economy? December verdict Continue reading...
How has the Brexit vote affected the economy? December verdict
Each month we look at key indicators to see what effect the Brexit process has on growth, prosperity and trade in the UKRelated: Brexit economy: a turbulent year ends on steadier ground Continue reading...
Brexit economy: a turbulent year ends on steadier ground
Households appear to defy cost of living squeeze and markets seem more confident now Brexit talks have moved on to tradeBritain’s economy is closing a turbulent year on steadier ground, as households defy the biggest squeeze on disposable income in living memory, a Guardian analysis of economic news over the past month shows.In a period in which Theresa May won a deal with Brussels to move the Brexit talks forward to focus on trade, the Guardian’s monthly tracker found pockets of strength in the economy – even as businesses express increasing concerns over the size of the challenge to come.Staying in the single market and customs unionRelated: How has the Brexit vote affected the economy? December verdict Continue reading...
The Guardian view on rape and the police: justice first | Editorial
Two young men have had the terrible ordeal of being wrongfully charged for one of the worst of crimes. But this is a failing of process. It must not be an excuse to fan the flame of misogynyThe Metropolitan police are reviewing 30 pending rape prosecutions in London after two cases collapsed because of a failure to disclose evidence that would have helped the defence in a timely manner. On Tuesday, the case against 25-year-old Isaac Itiary, charged with the rape of a child under 16, collapsed. A week ago, all charges against 22-year-old Liam Allan were dropped. He had been on bail for two years facing a dozen charges of rape and sexual assault. Both young men have endured the life-changing experience of being charged with a terrible crime that they did not commit, that carried the threat of a long prison sentence.Neither of these cases should ever have happened. In July, at just the time Mr Itiary was charged, a joint review by the inspectorates of the Crown Prosecution Service and the police issued the bluntest of warnings: both process and culture relating to disclosure were so severely flawed as to jeopardise the likelihood of a fair trial. In other words, a disaster was waiting to happen. Now it has. Continue reading...
Bank of England Carney says UK is banker for Europe, IMF welcomes Brexit progress –as it happened
Bank of England governor Mark Carney up before Treasury committee
Gloomy Brexit forecasts for UK are coming true, says IMF
Fund trims growth forecast as Christine Lagarde strongly defends pre-referendum prediction of slowdown from leave voteThe International Monetary Fund has strongly defended its gloomy forecasts for the UK after Brexit, saying pre-referendum warnings of slower growth were coming true.Christine Lagarde, the fund’s managing director, said the vote to leave the EU in June 2016 was already having an impact and Britain’s weaker growth this year was in contrast to accelerating activity in the rest of the world.Related: IMF welcomes Brexit progress but cautions timeframe is ambitious – business live Continue reading...
Nearly 45,000 UK retailers in financial distress this Christmas
Snow and consumer spending squeeze affect number of shoppers on high street, while Toys R Us may enter administrationNearly 45,000 retailers are in financial distress this Christmas as a snowy weekend and the squeeze on consumer spending power hit sales after the Black Friday rush.While Toys R Us faces potential administration on Thursday if a deal cannot be struck with the pensions lifeboat, there has been a 22% increase in the number of retailers, nearly 8,000 more, facing “significant financial distress”, according to a survey by the insolvency advisory company Begbies Traynor. Continue reading...
Senate approves most drastic changes to US tax code in 30 years
Donald Trump has said his first major legislative victory would be a ‘big, beautiful Christmas present’ for Americans
UK's Christmas workers earning less than 10 years ago, study shows
Clergy members, emergency staff and police officers among those hardest hit by inflation outstripping wage risesMany of those working on Christmas Day, including members of the clergy and the emergency services, will be paid less than a decade ago, with little sign that the earnings squeeze will fade in the new year, according to analysis.Real wages for the most-worked jobs on 25 December, barring kitchen staff, have fallen since 2007 due to rising inflation and meagre increases in pay, a TUC study has found. Continue reading...
Parts of UK that voted Brexit are most exposed to its effects, report says
Areas in Midlands and north of England, where support for leaving EU was high, have most exposure to trade consequencesThe UK regions that voted to leave the EU are more economically exposed to the effects of Brexit than anywhere else in Europe, research suggests.A University of Birmingham study examined the degree to which EU regions were exposed to the possible negative trade-related consequences of Britain’s departure and found areas in the Midlands and north of England, many of which voted for Brexit, had the greatest exposure. Continue reading...
Delving deeper into an economics Reformation | Letters
Sixty five academics support the call for a new Reformation, and 21 female economists and social policy researchers also have their say. Plus letters from Dr Pete Clarke and Nicholas MaxwellIn the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, which challenged a single dominant belief system, we agree it is time for the reformation of another all-embracing and powerful set of beliefs: that of mainstream economics (Larry Elliott: Economics needs a Reformation of its own, 18 December). Neoclassical theories currently dominate the university teaching of economics, as well as public debate, policy and decision making. Yet we believe they have assumed this level of influence not as the result of open debate, challenge and the scientific method, but as a belief system whose founding principles now pass unquestioned. Its proponents claim special authority to pronounce on all matters and its teaching has taken on the characteristics of indoctrination: students being asked to memorise and repeat rather than to criticise and evaluate.The world faces poverty, inequality, ecological crises and financial instability that mainstream economics, apparently incapable of self-correction, seems powerless to understand, let alone help address. We support the call made last week in the publication of “33 theses for an economics reformation” for radically greater pluralism, and believe this necessary if we are to reverse these problems. It must begin with reform of the way economics research is funded in universities, which under the present system perpetuates the monopoly of a single narrow perspective. Ending the unhealthy intellectual monopoly within economics is not just about making the discipline more effective and democratic, it is essential to raise our collective chances of surviving and thriving. Continue reading...
UK cannot have a special deal for the City, says EU's Brexit negotiator
Exclusive: Michel Barnier’s stark declaration quashes hopes for a bespoke trade deal to include financial servicesBritain cannot have a special deal for the City of London, the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator has told the Guardian, dealing a blow to Theresa May’s hopes of securing a bespoke trade agreement with the bloc.
Bitcoin bubble warnings grow louder as futures trading begins on CME –as it happened
All the day’s economic and financial news, as cryptocurrency bitcoin joins the world’s largest exchange
May tells 'Brexit war cabinet' UK must aim high in trade talks
Source reveals that at meeting with ministers the PM argued for UK to keep up calls for bespoke, ambitious deal
UK manufacturing order books near three-decade high, says CBI
Strong growth recorded in November continued in December, but is expected to slow in early 2018Britain’s manufacturers have ended 2017 on a high note, with output surging to meet the strongest order books in almost three decades.The latest snapshot of industry from the CBI found the strong growth recorded in November continued in December but is expected to abate in the early months of 2018. Continue reading...
Brace yourself for the next Brexit faultline: the battle over transition | John Springford
Will Theresa May be able to convince her party of the necessity for a transition period, during which the UK obeys EU rules without having any say in them?
Desperate UK homeowners are cutting prices, says Zoopla
Property website says 35% of homes up for sale have cut sale price, with Brexit vote to blame for the biggest discounts in LondonPrice cutting by homeowners desperate to shift their property in a slowing market has reached the highest levels in six years, according to an analysis by website Zoopla.Just over 35% of the homes marketed on the site have marked down their price in the hope of achieving a sale, with the biggest discounts in the London property market.Related: Housebuilders issue Brexit plea as poll shows UK reliance on EU workers Continue reading...
Curbs on capitalism in the 21st century
Controls can include monetary policy, writes Mike Ellwood; Yugo Kovach recommends restricting migrant labour; and there’s always revolution, points out Gareth ReevesI am delighted that Larry Elliott (Think our governments can no longer control capitalism? You’ve been duped, 14 December) has discovered Professor Bill Mitchell’s book Reclaiming the State.Mitchell is a respected “heterodox” economist who specialises in modern monetary theory, and writes an almost daily blog in which he explains MMT and its political and economic implications. If Elliott were to fully learn the lessons of MMT from Mitchell’s book and/or blog, then perhaps he would not write (as he recently did) about governments of countries like the UK (which issues its own currency in a floating exchange rate system) having to “borrow” in order to run a fiscal deficit. The “borrowing” that does take place is a “voluntary” restriction placed upon the government’s freedom to spend, for reasons that are no longer valid (if they ever were), as Mitchell expertly explains, and could be dropped, if the government so willed. Continue reading...
UK banks tell May: a Canada-style Brexit deal is not good enough
Banking trade body urges Theresa May and Philip Hammond to put City at centre of EU talks or risk dealing a major blow to the economyBritain’s banks have written to Theresa May and Philip Hammond warning that a Canada-style free trade agreement with the EU post-Brexit is not ambitious enough and that alignment with EU rules on finance is crucial.The open letter from UK Finance, which represents major banks and other financial institutions, said the government must place the City at the centre of Brexit trade talks or risk dealing a major blow to the economy.Banks, insurance companies and other financial firms in the EEA – the EU along with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – are able to do business in the UK with separate regulatory approval. The system is known as passporting and allows firms to trade freely across borders. It applies the other way round, so that UK firms can operate in other EEA countries.Related: It's Frankfurt … and Paris: Goldman Sachs names post-Brexit hubsJust left Frankfurt. Great meetings, great weather, really enjoyed it. Good, because I'll be spending a lot more time there. #Brexit Continue reading...
The UK jobs engine isn’t working any more
The employment rate might look good but the outlook is far from rosy for low-paid BritonsPiece by piece, Britain’s jobs-creating machine in the years of economic recovery since the financial crisis appears to be coming unstuck.Dating back to early 2012, the number of people in employment has been on an upward curve – to fanfare from the Conservatives, who readily quote the 3 million jobs created since they came to power in 2010. But Theresa May should be worried, after figures from the Office for National Statistics last week showed the jobs engine has now chugged into reverse. Continue reading...
Heretics welcome! Economics needs a new Reformation | Larry Elliott
Neoclassical economics has become an unquestioned belief system and treats those challenging the creed as dangerousIn October 1517, an unknown Augustinian monk by the name of Martin Luther changed the world when he grabbed a hammer and nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The Reformation started there.The tale of how the 95 theses were posted is almost certainly false. Luther never mentioned the incident and the first account of it didn’t surface until after his death. But it makes a better story than Luther writing a letter (which is what probably happened), and that’s why the economist Steve Keen, dressed in a monk’s habit and wielding a blow up hammer, could be found outside the London School of Economics last week.
There is hope: Brexit has few zealots and many floating voters | William Keegan
As some hard economic truths become clear, the many ideologically uncommitted Britons who chose to leave may start changing their mindsMy football team, AFC Wimbledon, may be languishing down in the third division, as it was once called, but the Conservative MP for Wimbledon, Stephen Hammond, showed himself to be in the Premier League last week.In that refreshing, surprising vote on Thursday, he and his fellow Tory rebels stood up to be counted in the cause of parliamentary democracy. By voting against Theresa May’s plan to prevent parliament from having the last say on whether the terms of any Brexit deal should be accepted, they joined the noble ranks of “mutineers” and “enemies of the people”. Continue reading...
Why business could prosper under a Corbyn government
Labour’s economic plans will alleviate the long-term damage being inflicted by austerity policiesWhile the Daily Mail, with Pavlovian regularity, persists in ringing the “Marxist” alarm bell, the Financial Times is a little more measured. “Labour has a fair wind” with business leaders, the paper argued this month, “with many terrified of a hard Brexit”. At the CBI’s annual conference in November, leaders of industry gave Jeremy Corbyn a distinctly warmer welcome than they gave Theresa May.That should come as no surprise, given the destabilising extremism of the Conservative Brexiters. Their echoing of hard-right American Republican ideology and advocacy of a hard Brexit is based on the belief that the UK’s economic interests, in particular the NHS and public services, would benefit from subjugation to American oligopolistic capital. Hence the calls for the UK to join the North American Free Trade Agreement. Yet, at the same time, polling shows that the British people are disillusioned with the privatisation of key sectors, and favour nationalisation. They seek protection from the impact of deregulated market forces on their lives and livelihoods and on their children’s prospects.From 1956 to 2008, Conservative governments had an average annual surplus of 0.3% of GDP, while Labour's was 1.1% Continue reading...
This year has been about companies and jobs. Will 2018 be about wages? | Greg Jericho
There’s been a big increase in tax revenue, which should lead to a smaller than expected deficit – but so far it’s coming from companies, not individuals
David Cameron to lead £750m UK-China investment initiative
Former prime minister will take charge of £750m fund to improve transport links between China and its trading partnersDavid Cameron has taken a job leading a billion-dollar investment initiative agreed between the UK and China.
Household finances are worse since Brexit vote, says Bank of England
Study of over 6,000 households found an increase in people reporting high mortgage debt, repayment costs and rentsAlmost a decade of improvements in household finances has started to be unpicked in the year since the EU referendum, according to the Bank of England.Findings from a biannual study for Threadneedle Street of more than 6,000 UK households found an increase in people reporting high mortgage debt when considering their income, while there were also worrying increases in repayments and in costs for renters. Continue reading...
The Tories are savaging libraries – and closing the book on social mobility | John Harris
Since 2010, more than 478 libraries have closed in England, Wales and Scotland. It’s the old Tory con: talk up advancement, then attack the institutions that make it possibleIf they weren’t already here, we’d have to invent them: public spaces, crammed with books, computers and information points, where events and meetings regularly take place, and children in particular get an early taste of the world beyond their own immediate experience.Related: The UK no longer has a national public library system | Laura SwaffieldRelated: No one needs libraries any more? What rubbish | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett Continue reading...
Black Friday lifts UK retail sales despite income squeeze
Official data suggests shoppers are defying inflation increase, weak wage growth and slump in sterling since Brexit voteBlack Friday discounts encouraged British consumers to increase their spending on the high street and online in November, despite the most protracted squeeze on household income in memory.Officials at the Office for National Statistics said the American-inspired promotional event had helped drive a 1.1% increase in the number of goods bought last month compared with October, with sales of electrical household appliances making the biggest contribution to growth. City economists had forecast growth of 0.4%. Continue reading...
ECB hikes growth forecasts but admits losses on Steinhoff bonds - as it happened
All the day’s economic and financial news, as central bankers hold their final monetary policy meetings of 2017
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