Bill Gates says governments could use a robot tax to fund human services – it would also help remedy income inequalityThe idea of a tax on robots was raised last May in a draft report to the European parliament prepared by MEP Mady Delvaux from the committee on legal affairs. Emphasising how robots could boost inequality, the report proposed that there might be a “need to introduce corporate reporting requirements on the extent and proportion of the contribution of robotics and AI to the economic results of a company for the purpose of taxation and social security contributions”.The public reaction to Delvaux’s proposal has been overwhelmingly negative, with the notable exception of Bill Gates, who endorsed it. But we should not dismiss the idea out of hand. In just the past year, we have seen the proliferation of devices such as Google Home and Amazon Echo Dot (Alexa), which replace some aspects of household help. Likewise, the Delphi and nuTonomy driverless taxi services in Singapore have started to replace taxi drivers. And Doordash, which uses Starship Technologies miniature self-driving vehicles, is replacing restaurant delivery people.Related: If the robots are coming for our jobs, make sure they pay their taxes | John NaughtonRelated: Robots won't just take our jobs – they'll make the rich even richer Continue reading...

Mark Carney appears unconcerned about inflation, but he will have to justify his inactivity as real incomes fallJudging by his comments, Mark Carney is blissfully unconcerned about inflation rising above its 2% target for the first time since 2013. The governor dismissed the unexpectedly sharp rise in the cost of living as a “single data point” when quizzed about it at a conference on ethics in banking held at the Bank of England. “We are talking about much bigger issues”, Carney added.There’s little doubt that voters are unhappy about the morals – or lack of them – of those working in the financial services industry. But they are also concerned about living standards. After the latest rise, the annual rate of inflation is the same as annual growth in average earnings. Next month, wages will lag behind prices and real incomes will start falling. For millions of voters, there are not many bigger issues than that.Related: Rising food and fuel prices hoist UK inflation rate to 2.3% Continue reading...

Equality Trust calls on government to force firms to report pay gap between highest-paid and average employeeThe average FTSE chief executive earns 386 times more than a worker on the national living wage, according to an analysis published by the Equality Trust as it steps up its campaign for new government rules to expose pay gaps.The charity used annual reports from 2015 for all the companies in the FTSE 100 to calculate that their CEOs pocket an average of £5.3m each year, compared with £13,662 for someone on the national living wage of £7.20 an hour. Continue reading...

As the Wall Street Journal attacks the president for ‘not respecting the truth’, traders drop risky assets in rush for safe havensConcerns about the Trump administration’s ability to push through key reforms and deliver on a promised fiscal boost turned share markets across the Asia Pacific region into a sea of red on Wednesday.

It’s not just fleeing conflict that makes victims out of refugees – it’s also denying them the means to become autonomous and productiveFrom the 1980s on, a dominant international approach has been taken towards the majority of the world’s refugees. Concentrated in a small number of host countries, close to war zones, displaced people have been settled in what have become known as “humanitarian silos”. Such places are usually remote, arid, dangerous and almost always have strict prohibitions on socio-economic activity. They are designed to deal only with the emergency phase of refugee intake, and yet the model has endured, leaving individuals and families stranded for years at a time.This strategy undermines autonomy and dignity. It also erodes human potential by focusing almost exclusively on people’s vulnerabilities, rather than on rebuilding their lives. Inevitably, many of those directly affected by it become disillusioned and choose to move on, gravitating towards urban areas in the host nation or risking their lives crossing oceans to other countries.Related: Refugee camps are not the answer to a complex crisisRelated: Innovation at Zaatari: how do refugees make tents and caravans into homes?Related: Syrian refugees in Jordan: 'If they cut the coupons, we will probably die' Continue reading...

Tory tensions as some MPs say they face battle against ‘bonkers’ Eurosceptics actively promoting WTO termsBrexiters in the cabinet and other Conservative frontbenchers have privately told colleagues they are relaxed about the prospect of Britain crashing out of the EU on to World Trade Organisation rules, the Guardian understands.Senior figures within the party have been persuaded by the argument that members of the WTO are less likely to try to punish the UK, while the European Union is looking to exact a political price for Brexit. Continue reading...

Food and fuel prices drove the consumer prices index to the highest level in almost three-and-a-half years in February

Standard of living fears build as wage growth slows and inflation leaps from 1.8% in January to highest level since September 2013Rising food and fuel prices pushed Britain’s inflation rate to 2.3% last month, the highest rate for more than three years.Inflation was well above the 2.1% expected in a Reuters poll of economists, as grocery bills started rising after years of food getting cheaper. Continue reading...

The exuberant market reaction to his win has not been translated into progress – he must work with Congress to deliverFinancial markets seem convinced that the recent surge in business and consumer confidence in the US economy will soon be reflected in “hard” data, such as GDP growth, business investment, consumption, and wages. But economists and policymakers are not so sure. Whether their doubts are vindicated will matter for both the US and the world economy.Donald Trump’s election as US president has triggered a surge in positive economic sentiment, because he pledged that his administration would aggressively pursue the policy trifecta of deregulation, tax cuts and reform, and infrastructure construction. Republican majorities in both houses of Congress reinforced the positive sentiment, as they signalled Trump would not face the kind of paralysing gridlock that Barack Obama confronted for most of his presidency.Related: Trump faces formidable institutional obstacles – so what can he do? | Barry Eichengreen Continue reading...

•Post-US election stock market boom and rise in oil price swells numbers

New CBI campaign says economy risks being left behind unless UK research budget rises to 3% of GDP from 1.7%Britain must Brexit-proof its economy by ramping up spending on research and development or risk being left behind in the global race to deliver game-changing innovations in areas such as space tourism and robotics, the country’s leading business group has said.The CBI lobby group will launch a campaign on Monday to urge the government to adopt an ambitious new target for R&D spending of 3% of GDP, compared with the current level of 1.7%. Continue reading...

Though he talked tax cuts, Ronald Reagan in fact turned on the public spending taps, to great effect at home and harm abroad. But 2017 is hardly 1981For the first few months after his election, Donald Trump was cast by many in the financial markets as the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan. His plans for deep and widespread tax cuts and a bonfire of regulations would, they said, spark a business renaissance akin to that credited to the stetson-wearing president who dominated the 1980s.Stock market investors lapped up Trump’s speeches and tweets, and sent the main New York share indices to fresh highs. Last October, before the US election, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was chugging sideways below 18,000. By the first week of March, its value had topped 21,000, a rise of almost 17%. Continue reading...

The policy is a deadly obsession that has long passed its sell-by dateWilliam Keegan reminds us that austerity was, and is, a policy choice (“We all need a stiff drink to swallow Hammond’s austerity”, Business, last week). It is based on “the Conservative party’s obsession with shrinking the size of the state and minimising the so-called ‘tax burden’ ”, a “burden” that Keegan also wisely reminds us “helps to ensure we have decent hospitals, schools and infrastructure generally”.This is a deadly obsession that has long passed its sell-by date. Ask a Conservative to defend it and they will reply by asking you if you want to end up like Greece, “a failing state”. The answer to that can be found in Raoul Martinez’s superb new book, Creating Freedom: Power, Control and the Fight for Our Future. He retells the story of Iceland, whose banking collapse was worse than any, but whose people refused to allow its government to accede to the IMF’s austerity demands. Continue reading...

If automation pushes joblessness to 20%, what happens to those who are left behind? Reducing working hours might be part of the solutionOne of the more striking things about economic debate in this country is that there is a broad call for “more reform” and yet an equally narrow view of what such reform should constitute.Economic reform is often synonymous with reducing labour costs and increasing after-tax profit, because much of the debate is generated by those whose view of the world and position in life is benefitted by such outcomes. But many of these styles of reform are most suited to an economy that might be passing us by – one where output is greatly disconnected from employment.Related: Could automation make life worse for women? Continue reading...

Figures next week will show the pummelled pound’s effect on prices, but don’t expect an interest rate hike just yetRising food and fuel costs are expected to have pushed inflation to its highest level in more than three years when official figures are released on Tuesday, underscoring the impact of the Brexit-battered pound on prices in the shops.Economists predict that the data will show inflation, on the consumer prices index (CPI) measure, hitting 2.1% for February, up from 1.8% in January. Continue reading...

All the day’s economic and financial news, as shares in London climb higher and finance ministers meet in Germany

Thinktank says progress has slowed and governments must push through change or face sluggish growth and inequalityGovernments must push through more fundamental reforms to boost growth, cut inequality and protect workers from rapid changes in technology if they are to win back the trust of voters, the west’s leading economics thinktank has warned.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says stagnating living standards in many countries have left people disenchanted and unwilling to support more changes by their governments in areas such as jobs markets.Related: ILO warns of rise in social unrest and migration as inequality widens Continue reading...

Median price paid for a home leapt 259% between 1997 and 2016 while earnings rose only 68%, say ONS affordability dataRising house prices now stand at an average 7.6 times the average annual salary, more than double the figure for 20 years ago, according to official figures.However, the new headline figure disguises dramatic regional variations. In the affluent London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, house prices are typically 38.5 times greater than annual earnings, but, 330 miles to the north-west, prices in Copeland, Cumbria, which includes the port of Whitehaven, are typically 2.8 times the average salary.

The entrepreneurial spirit cannot flourish if people don’t feel valued, rewarded and, above all, sheltered from severe economic turbulenceUnleash the power of markets and the private sector will deliver returns that raise everyone’s living standards: that’s the market liberalism argument. However, for a decade now we have been living in a world where the opposite is true. GDP rises but wages shrink. The financial crisis was 10 years ago but austerity looks set to continue into the middle of the next decade, as we endlessly wait for the recovery that’s always round the corner.The chancellor, Philip Hammond, berated Labour during his budget speech for wanting to “saddle our children and burden our future”, but young people who entered the jobs market in 2010 will be in their mid-to-late 30s before austerity is projected to end. It’s not “protecting our children’s future” to keep them in low-waged, precarious work from 18 to 38. The UK government is issuing 40-year bonds at 1.87% and, in a fit of perversity, we’re “protecting” our children from those interest payments by forcing them to take payday loans at 1,500%.The NHS saves British business thousands on health insurance, compared with in the supposedly more flexible USRelated: Hammond's NICs U-turn is a political disaster for the government | Larry Elliott Continue reading...

With supermarkets facing tough competition from discounters, acquiring assets such as Argos looks sound“We entered the quarter with deflation and exited the quarter with inflation,” declared Mike Coupe, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, describing shop prices in the most recent trading period. Once upon a time, this would have been taken as excellent news for shareholders, as opposed to customers. Inflationary breezes, allowing prices to be raised faster than overheads, used to be a supermarket’s best friend and surest way to protect profit margins. Not now.Coupe didn’t give a figure for price inflation at Sainsbury’s, but it is unlikely to be as high as he – and his competitors – would wish. Industry consultant Kantar put the rate at 1.4% last month. That was double the rate in the previous month, but we’re not talking about the 5% within six months that his predecessor, Justin King, forecast four months ago for the entire industry.Related: Sainsbury's warns over 'uncertain' impact of pound's Brexit slide Continue reading...

Upbeat Federal Reserve outlook combines with relief at Dutch election result, pushing Amsterdam’s index to nine-year highStock markets across Europe soared as traders reacted to the defeat of an anti-EU candidate in Dutch elections and the latest interest rate announcement from the US central bank.The Federal Reserve accompanied its latest rate rise this week with guidance that it would not tighten policy quite as much as financial markets anticipated this year. That message buoyed share prices, adding to the upbeat mood prompted by the results of parliamentary elections in the Netherlands. Continue reading...

Officials believe letter may have been sent by group that claimed responsibility for parcel bomb sent to German finance ministerA letter bomb that was dispatched to the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Paris and blew up on Thursday, injuring the employee who opened it, was sent from Greece, the Greek public order minister has said.Greek intelligence officials are working on the assumption that the blast in the French capital may have been orchestrated by an urban guerrilla group that claimed responsibility for a parcel bomb sent to the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Bank of England will follow Fed with quarter-point rise only when evidence of upward inflationary spiral emergesWe have been here many times before. In the eight years since the Bank of England cut interest rates to a then record low of 0.5%, there has been regular speculation in the City that borrowing costs are heading back up.The latest flurry of excitement was caused when Kristin Forbes broke ranks with her monetary policy committee colleagues and said something should be done about rising inflation. Continue reading...

Monetary policy committee is split 8-1 as members decide base rate of 0.25% is appropriate for post-referendum economyThe Bank of England has held interest rates at their record low amid signs of an internal split emerging about how to tackle rising inflation.The Bank’s monetary policy committee was divided on the rates decision, with Kristin Forbes voting to raise borrowing costs immediately. Other members also indicated that they could join her at future meetings if they felt inflation was rising too quickly.Related: Bank of England votes 8-1 to leave interest rates on hold - business live Continue reading...

The next chapter of austerity is upon us, and the gender inequality within it is shockingThat “austerity is a feminist issue” is now a well-used idiom does not mean it’s any less true. Look at the latest gender breakdown of cuts released this month and what’s striking is that nothing’s changing. According to Sarah Champion, the shadow equalities minister, 86% of the burden of austerity has fallen on women since 2010 – a figure that remains entirely static from last year. Inequality is business as usual: by 2020, a decade on from when austerity first began, men will still have borne just 14% of the total burden of “welfare” cuts.This unequal impact isn’t just contained within the benefit system, but rather spreads to many of the choices the Conservatives are making. NHS and local government cuts of course affect men as well, but as women are a vast chunk of the public sector workforce, they are hurt most when public services are squeezed. Similarly, although it’s rarely talked about in such terms, the crisis in social care is in many ways gendered: it’s largely women who make up home care and agency staff – insecure, low-paid work – while it’s also women who are the bulk of family carers for disabled children and elderly parents. When a council cuts a care package, it’s largely wives, mothers, and daughters doing the unpaid labour to plug the gap.As a new wave of child poverty approaches, it’s working-class mums who will be queuing in food banksRelated: Women bearing 86% of austerity burden, Commons figures reveal Continue reading...

Like London and Buenos Aires, cities can move their nightlife away from drink-dependent culture - if councils and businesses work togetherAfter years of unregulated growth, it looks like the good times may be over for those in the UK who make their living from people going out at night-time.

The Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, announced on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates. This raise is the second hike in three months, a move Yellen said was spurred by steady economic growth, strong job gains and confidence that inflation was rising to the central bank’s target

Wall Street is reassured by ‘dovish hike’, as Chair Janet Yellen says the US economy is doing well

Bricks and mortar shops are squeezed by online sales and business rates; perhaps Inditex’s Zara points the wayThe news that Jones Bootmaker is on the brink of falling into administration is a reminder of just how tough life is on the high street. The 160-year-old shoe retailer may yet be rescued, but about 1,000 workers are unsure about their future employment.Profits for bricks-and-mortar shops are being squeezed by the rise of online shopping, an increase in staff costs brought on by the introduction of the national living wage, and fierce discounting of the price of their products, which is designed to attract shoppers but hurts profit margins. On top of this is business rates – a tax that takes no account of falling profit and is now more costly than corporation tax for many shops. Continue reading...

Will Fed’s steady march to ‘new normal’ scare away the ghosts of financial crisis?It could have been worse. That was Wall Street’s initial response to the decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise borrowing costs in the world’s biggest economy by a quarter of a point.For once, the market reaction was entirely rational. The increase in interest rates was expected and it would have been a real surprise had Janet Yellen and her colleagues at the US central bank decided against a move.Related: US Federal Reserve raises interest rates to 1% in bid to hold off inflation Continue reading...

Fed chair says US economy in strong health as she announces third rate rise since 2008 and the first of several expected this year

It had been absolutely right to raise contributions, the chancellor said, which was why he was no longer going to do itThe phone call had come through just after eight in the morning while Phil “The Undertaker” Hammond was eating breakfast. It was the prime minister ordering him to bury Class 4 NICs. He had tried telling her that doing a U-turn on your only real budget measure less than a week after it had been announced made him and the government look hopelessly incompetent, but Theresa wasn’t having any of it. The Tory backbenchers were on her back. The Daily Mail was on her back. And now she was on his back.Six hours later The Undertaker rather sheepishly arrived in the Commons to try to explain how it was that, though he still absolutely stood by his budget because it was his budget that was his, he now wanted to fundamentally change it because although he hadn’t broken any promises in the Conservative party manifesto, as that’s not the sort of thing he would ever dream of doing, he had in fact broken the promises he had made in the Conservative party manifesto.Related: Philip Hammond defends scrapping national insurance rise for the self-employed Continue reading...

The chancellor must tell us how extra social care will be funded, after Jeremy Corbyn, Labour and civic society forced him into a U-turnThe government’s U-turn on the unfair £2bn national insurance hike for the self-employed is a humiliation for chancellor Philip Hammond, who has shredded his reputation after only his first budget – and broke a manifesto promise to do it. Labour opposed the measure from the start: Jeremy Corbyn made our opposition loud and clear in his immediate budget response, and Labour MPs hammered the same message home over the next few days. Opposition came from all sides of the house, and from business organisations like the Federation of Small Businesses, leaving the Tory leadership completely isolated.The chancellor’s climbdown will be a huge relief to all those self-employed workers and businesspeople, earning as little as £8,000 a year, who faced a serious increase in their tax bill at a time when average pay for the self-employed has fallen dramatically – their average earnings are now just £12,480 a year.This is the third Tory budget in a row that has resulted in a major U-turnRelated: Hammond's NICs U-turn is a political disaster for the government | Larry Elliott Continue reading...

Making EPA data easily accessible to the private sector plays a significant role in many billion-dollar industries, from renewable energy to auto manufacturing

Falling pay growth shows how the balance of power has shifted in the past four decades away from workersThe last time Britain’s unemployment rate was lower than it is today was in the summer of 1975. For those whose memories don’t stretch that far back it was the time of the UK’s first referendum on EU membership, Harold Wilson was prime minister and inflation was at at postwar peak of more than 25%.The contrast with today’s labour market is stark. Joblessness stands at 4.7%, a level that many economists would consider close to full employment, yet there is not the glimmer of the upward pressure on wages that was so evident in the mid-70s.Related: UK unemployment falls to joint lowest rate since 1975 but wages stall Continue reading...

Wages in sector will fall by 2020 to levels last seen a decade ago, the Resolution Foundation forecastsPublic sector workers have become the first group to suffer a cut in real wages since the recovery of 2014 as forecasters predicted that the rest of the working population would follow suit later this year.The Resolution Foundation said the situation for 5.4 million public sector workers is expected to worsen over the rest of the decade as pay restraint and high inflation eat into their take-home pay and living standards.Related: UK social care: staff shortages put sector in crisisRelated: No pay rise for 15 years, IFS warns UK workers Continue reading...

The narrative that Britain is a poor country has been peddled for years, says Hugh Muir. But, he argues, the government is using the excuse of poverty to avoid its moral duties, such as funding the NHS or accepting child refugees. There is money in the pot to fund Trident and the royal family, he claims, so it follows that many budget cuts are purely ideological Continue reading...

Family businesses are often best suited to longevity. But product development, investing in staff and attention to detail help in a recessionFounded in 1860, awnings and blinds manufacturer James Robertshaw has seen its fair share of internal change and economic upheaval. The company also survived a major fire, in 1933. A feat managing director Nigel Sharrock, who took on the role in 1979, brushes off. “Fires were a common occurrence in those days,” he says.Sharrock took over from his father-in-law, who bought the business from the Robertshaws in 1960. The company, which has 24 staff, has also changed location a few times. Its most recent base is a factory unit in Bolton where all products are designed and manufactured. It is still a family business, with Nigel’s wife Lesley, and son, Matthew, on the board. Sharrock says its 157-year survival lies in constant innovation, new machinery, family values and business sense.Related: School's out, GCSE results are in, now's the time to hire an apprentice Continue reading...

Key projects could be in jeopardy if Britain does not retain access to European single market after Brexit, surveyors warnThe UK construction industry could lose more than 175,000 EU workers – or 8% of the sector’s workforce – if the country does not retain access to the European single market after Brexit, the government has been told.Such an outcome could put key infrastructure and construction projects at risk at a time when the sector was also facing other pressures, including the tax changes in the recent budget, said the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). Continue reading...

Janet Yellen, the Fed chair who has been criticised by Donald Trump, is set to raise rates for third time since financial crashThe US central bank is poised to raise interest rates for only the third time since the financial crash of 2008. With its headquarters just round the corner from the White House, the Federal Reserve and its chair, Janet Yellen, are in Donald Trump’s sights.On the campaign trail Trump said Yellen should be “ashamed” of the Fed’s low interest rate policy, and accused the bank of creating a “false stock market”. Trump has called for higher rates, but Yellen can not take a positive presidential reaction for granted.Related: Trump is set to win the battle on interest rates, but US economy will pay the price Continue reading...

ONS also adds non-dairy milks, council tax and smartphones – but out go menthol ciggies, child swings and cheque feesHipster culture is officially mainstream after the rising popularity of vegan diets, cycling and artisan gin were reflected in the annual shakeup of the shopping basket used to measure UK inflation.

All the day’s economic and financial news, as sterling slides after parliament gives Theresa May the green light to trigger article 50

Staying politically neutral on Trump administration policies is proving difficult for businesses in the face of mounting public pressureAmerican companies have a long history of weighing in on political and social issues. But the election of Donald Trump has fueled public pressure on businesses to go much further to take a stand on specific policies – and made it difficult for those that wish to remain neutral.

British Chambers of Commerce says British consumers are showing resilience to Brexit vote, but warns of rising inflationRobust consumer spending and a brighter outlook for trade and investment will mean the UK’s economic slowdown this year is less severe than previously feared, the British Chambers of Commerce has predicted.But in its latest set of economic forecasts, published as the UK prepares to embark on Brexit negotiations, the business group cut its outlook for 2018 and warned higher inflation would take a chunk out of household budgets.Related: UK economy ends 2016 on high – but rising import prices starting to biteRelated: UK economy to hit near standstill as Brexit vote hurts investment – BCC Continue reading...

A once destitute man is thriving now because a company paid its dues to society. Why don’t more do the same?I want you to meet Colin Burrell because he’s a walking good-news story. I want you to meet him because he’s brilliant. But most of all, I want you to meet this 25-year-old because his tale shows you what can be done to fix both a life and an economy.Related: Life after community death: this food bank has a lesson for Labour | Aditya ChakraborttyRelated: Why George Osborne sounds like Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s | Aditya Chakrabortty Continue reading...

The corporate world has a lot to lose from today’s populist shift. Its long-term stability will depend on a radical rethink of its valuesThe Western Australian election result confirms that the Australian polity has totally mastered the art of opposition. It’s the governing side of things that is proving the difficult part.Whether you are a recently punted administration still licking your wounds or a perennially bench-warming opposition, if you can’t excite a backlash against the sitting party then your heart really isn’t in it. Which is not to detract from the victory of Mark McGowan and his team, merely to mark the wild swings inherent in the modern two-party state as the new normal.

All the day’s economic and financial news, as investors anticipate US interest rates being raised on Wednesday, and Britain starting its exit from the EU this week

A plunge in the oil price since the 2014 referendum and a budget deficit appear to make Scotland’s finances less than rosyConvincing the Scottish people that they would be better off after independence proved beyond Alex Salmond in 2014. Project Fear failed to deliver for David Cameron in the EU referendum last June but it did the trick in Scotland 21 months earlier.Nicola Sturgeon faces the same tough challenge. Indeed, constructing an economic case for independence looks harder now than it did three years ago. Harder but not impossible.

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon presses for a new referendum – but could it really happen?Nicola Sturgeon’s speech at Bute House on Monday in effect challenged Theresa May to give Scotland, which voted in favour of remaining in the EU by 62% to 38%, special access to the single market and substantial new powers or face a second Scottish independence referendum.Related: Nicola Sturgeon expected to set out plan for Scottish independence vote Continue reading...