With non-UK nationals representing most of 300,000 rise in number employed, labour supply is helping keep lid on wagesBritain has all the hallmarks of a full-employment economy. The employment rate is at a record level, unemployment is at its lowest in more than a decade, and the percentage of women working is at its highest since modern records began.The one thing missing from this picture is an increase in wages. Full-employment economies are normally good for workers because they take advantage of labour shortages to strike better deals with employers. Continue reading...

Production costs jump 20% in a year as pound’s sharp fall following Brexit vote ramps up imports bill just as oil prices start to biteA surge in fuel prices helped push inflation to its highest level for more than two years last month and economists warned of more prices pressures as the Brexit blow to the pound ramped up firms’ costs.The Office for National Statistics said inflation rose to 1.8% in January from 1.6% in December and was the highest since June 2014. But it was slightly less than expected, as falling clothes prices offset some of the upward pressure on inflation from fuel and food.Related: UK inflation rate jumps to 1.8% as weak pound bites - business liveRelated: The UK's inflation foot soldiers: how the ONS measures the CPI Continue reading...

Geopolitical uncertainties surrounding Brexit, US economic policy and European elections are likely to stunt economic expansion in the year aheadThe German economy expanded less than expected in the final three months of 2016, dragging down growth in the 19-nation eurozone.Europe’s largest economy expanded by 0.4% between October and December, according to the German statistics office, Destatis. This was lower than the 0.5% forecast by economists. German growth in the third quarter was revised lower too, to 0.1% from 0.2%.Related: Eurozone growth rises to 0.5%; Trump adviser claims euro 'grossly undervalued'- as it happenedRelated: Eurozone consumer spending slows but exports rise Continue reading...

Higher fuel costs have driven the cost of living in Britain up again, at the fastest pace in two-and-a-half years

Asked about Donald Trump’s claim that the financial regulation meant businesses could not borrow, the Fed chair said growth in lending was robustDueling senators turned the Federal Reserve chairwoman’s first testimony before Congress since the election of Donald Trump into a row over Republican plans to defang Dodd-Frank, the financial regulation brought in after the Great Recession.Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat emerging as Trump’s leading critic, quizzed Janet Yellen on Trump’s claims that Dodd-Frank was a “disaster” and on his plans to dismantle it.Related: Trump orders Dodd-Frank review in effort to roll back financial regulationRelated: Dismantling Dodd-Frank: Donald Trump's Valentine's gift to Wall Street | Jill Abramson Continue reading...

High street competition has helped rein in prices, but households are facing rising cost of living due to falling pound and rising commoditiesIt was nice while it lasted, but the days of ultra-low inflation are over – at least for the time being.The year ahead is going to be marked by rising prices and squeezed living standards, but the pickup in the cost of living needs to be put in perspective; January’s increase was smaller than expected, and the result of prices falling less sharply than they did a year ago.Related: UK warned to expect higher inflation as CPI jumps to 1.8% - business live Continue reading...

The city voted for Brexit because it felt cut off by a failing economic system, says councillor Matthew Brown. But the region has been revived by thinking locallyMatthew Brown believes few available jobs and rising inequality led Preston, like every other district of Lancashire, to vote to leave the EU in June. “People are angry with how the economy is structured. Brexit has happened because of a failure of the current economic model,” says the 44-year-old councillor. But he adds: “What we’re doing now is in response to that, it’s about how we can change local economies to work for people who feel excluded.”Related: Council job cuts have finally caught up with me – but I'm relieved Continue reading...

Lord Kerslake’s damning report exposes the yawning skills gap at the heart of government – just when we need to manage BrexitWhitehall needs a strong centre more than ever, to keep the show on the road, to monitor the effects of leaving the European Union and to coordinate Theresa May’s government’s various (and variously contradictory) initiatives.The Treasury has to be a pillar of that strength – yet for the past seven decades at least it has abused its power and UK government has suffered as a result, according to a damning report by former head of the civil service Lord Kerslake.Related: Osborne’s bleak Brexit forecast ‘has undermined the Treasury’The Treasury pares candle ends without promoting effectiveness and efficiency Continue reading...

Study shows low-paid self-employment and zero-hours contracts costing exchequer £75m a week – a quarter of England’s weekly social care budgetThe rapid rise in insecure work in the UK is costing the government almost £4bn a year in lost tax income and benefit payouts, according to new research into the gig economy by the Trades Union Congress.The UK’s growing legions of low-paid, self-employed workers and those on zero-hours contracts earn significantly less than regular employees and therefore pay less tax and national insurance. Their relatively low earnings also make them more likely to need to rely on in-work benefits such as tax credits and housing benefit, the TUC said.Related: Zero-hours workers '£1,000 worse off a year' than employeesRelated: Self-employment in UK at highest level since records began Continue reading...

Executive arm of EU sees UK economy growing 1.5% this year, compared with earlier forecast of just 1% growthThe eurozone will enjoy stronger economy growth than previously thought this year and next but face risks from uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump’s presidency and the UK’s negotiations to leave the European Union, according to forecasts by the European commission.The executive arm of the EU became the latest body to concede its predictions made shortly after the Brexit vote had been overly gloomy. It also upgraded its outlook for the UK this year.Winter 2017 Economic Forecast | check all information (also by country) here: https://t.co/2c560Rv1yk #ECForecast pic.twitter.com/HrZXe0pKpq Continue reading...

Many of the problems humanity faces are shared ones. That’s why it is so vital that we start to find communitarian solutions to social problemsIn an interview with Woman’s Own in 1987, Margaret Thatcher said: “Too many … people have been given to understand, ‘I have a problem, it is the government’s job to cope with it.’” It’s a sentence that perfectly epitomises both the rise of neoliberalism – for which Thatcher can largely be thanked – and its death.For there’s no doubt that neoliberalism – a system focused on free-market policies – is in decline after decades of dominance. As Aditya Chakrabortty argues in Guardian Opinion, we are witnessing its death.Related: Britain’s housing crisis could be solved – if only the government wanted to | Jonn ElledgeRelated: The great British make off: how a new materialism can give us back control | Ruth Potts Continue reading...

Experts warn drop in sales could be sign of ‘tougher things to come’ as rising prices since Brexit vote ‘hurt spending power’Britons slashed their spending on new clothes and shied away from the high street in January as they juggled Christmas debts and rising living costs.Spending increased by a meagre 0.4% in January, according to Visa’s consumer spending index. The year-on-year growth rate was a five-month low, which followed December’s robust 2.5% increase. The spending tracker highlighted a grim period for clothing retailers, with the amount Britons spent on their wardrobes dropping 3.8% – the biggest decline since April 2012.Related: Brexit economy: weak pound stokes inflation as jobs market coolsRelated: Rising food bills to dent UK high street spending, says top thinktank Continue reading...

Old art of checking and recording by trained collectors remains at heart of compiling the index as data is also fed by software scanning online pricesIn a shop stacked to the ceiling with toys, Brenda Cleaver is searching for a very specific car. “I am looking for a modern road vehicle, and I am checking the price. Here it is. It hasn’t changed,” she says, comparing the price sticker on the toy car with the information on her handheld computer. She moves on in search of a snakes and ladders game.

Senate vote to repeal law forcing US energy and mining companies to disclose payments to foreign governments has gladdened the hearts of kleptocratsCorruption is a curse. It stunts development, breeds conflict in fragile states, makes taxpayers in rich countries dubious about providing aid to poor countries, and gives crooked firms an advantage over those that play by the rules.Governments have become less tolerant of dirty business dealings over time, as Rolls-Royce has found to its cost. The aerospace company – one of the UK’s genuinely world class manufacturing firms – will this week announce one of Britain’s biggest ever corporate losses, in part the result of the £671m cost of settling bribery actions.To argue that easing up on the fight against corruption is good for business is to turn truth on its headRelated: Bribery and Brexit propel Rolls-Royce towards historic losses Continue reading...

Germany is saying no debt relief; the IMF warns Greece will go under without. But the best any of the players in this Athenian tragedy can hope for is just to surviveThe European commission wants Greece off the political agenda before elections in the Netherlands next month: that much is clear at the end of a turbulent week of claim and counter-claim that appears to be ending in yet another messy compromise.Greek finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos dashed to Brussels last Friday to hear about a deal that appears to delay any punishment for Athens’s lack of reforming zeal until next year, when the Dutch, French, German and possibly Italian elections will be out of the way. To call it a sticking plaster would be to do disrespect to the healing powers of the humble Elastoplast. Continue reading...

Fifty years after Harold Wilson’s speech, people are still talking a load of nonsense about sterlingThis year marks the 50th anniversary of Harold Wilson’s memorable broadcast following his government’s devaluation of the pound.“It does not mean, of course, that the pound here in Britain, in your pocket or purse or in your bank, has been devalued,” he said. This, depending on your preference for modern or traditional language, is either a) an alternative fact or b) a brazen fib. Continue reading...

The majority in both houses believe leaving the EU is a disastrous idea. But only a principled few have tried to steer Britain away from its fate‘The first duty of an MP is to do what he [or she] thinks … is right and necessary for the honour and safety of Great Britain. His second duty is to his constituents, of whom he is the representative but not the delegate.”These are the wise words of Sir Winston Churchill, ignored by the majority of our elected representatives in last week’s vote on the Brexit bill. Continue reading...

Lord Kerslake says department is in a poor position to influence Brexit decisionsGeorge Osborne’s “project fear” forecasts about the economic risks of leaving the European Union have undermined public confidence in the Treasury and left it ill-equipped to influence Brexit, according to a damning new report from former Whitehall chief Lord Kerslake.The Treasury is traditionally Whitehall’s most powerful department and its civil servants some of the brightest and best. But Kerslake finds that its reputation waned in the wake of the financial crisis – and when it published bleak forecasts of the impact of Brexit in the run-up to the referendum, “the public reaction ... was unprecedentedly hostile”. Continue reading...

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of Eurogroup of finance ministers, says claims of crisis are exaggerated as emergency talks beginGreece and its EU creditors have been locked in emergency talks, after the head of the eurozone dismissed suggestions that the country’s bailout programme was in crisis.

The ratings agency said President Trump’s policies could lead to downgrades for countries with close economic ties to the US

Ratings agency highlights US president’s unpredictability and break from ‘norms’ of international relations as risksDonald Trump’s presidency poses a risk to the global economy, a leading credit ratings agency has warned, highlighting his unpredictability, his administration’s aggressive tone and his break with established “norms” in international relations.Less than a month into a presidency characterised by frequent Twitter tirades and an executive to order to ban citizens from some Muslim-majority countries from entering the US, Fitch said Trump posed a threat to global economic conditions.#Trump Administration Poses Risks to Global Sovereigns https://t.co/XObCY0Dz9p Continue reading...

Analysts fear the boom in personal contract plans are mirroring the sub-prime mortgage scandal and are fuelling a colossal build-up of debt in UK and USA huge increase in the amounts borrowed by already indebted households in Britain and the US to buy new vehicles is fuelling fears that “sub-prime cars” could ignite the next financial crash.British households borrowed a record £31.6bn in 2016 to buy cars, up 12% on the year before, said the Finance and Leasing Association on Friday. Nine out of 10 private car buyers are now using personal contract plans (known as PCPs), which have boomed since interest rates fell to historic lows. Continue reading...

ONS data shows increased output and narrowing of trade gap in December as economy defies Brexit uncertaintyBritain’s manufacturers and construction firms had a December bounce, adding to evidence that the UK economy ended 2016 on a strong note despite the Brexit vote.Backing up official estimates that show the UK economy was the fastest growing of the G7 leading industrial countries last year, figures published on Friday came in stronger than City economists expected.Related: UK industry is on a roll – but inflation could send it on the slide | Larry Elliott Continue reading...

As Donald Trump steers the US towards isolationism and protectionism, China’s leader is casting himself as a champion of internationalism and free trade. But are Xi’s values really compatible with those of the rest of the world?Some call it Xi Jinping’s Big White Book; a 515-page, 2.5kg tome in which China’s paramount leader lays out his thinking on everything from tree planting to macro-economics; from Karl Marx to the importance of being earnest.More than five million copies of Xi’s The Governance of China now adorn bookshelves and coffee tables around the globe, if Communist party propagandists are to be believed, in languages including Russian, Cambodian, Portuguese, Arabic and Nepali.Related: US-China war would be a disaster for the world, says Communist partyRelated: Trump agrees to support 'One China' policy in Xi Jinping call Continue reading...

Reduction was a core wish of leave voters, but overall figure will probably fall by less than 15%, thinktank predictsTheresa May’s attempt to reclaim control of UK borders after Brexit could reduce annual migration from the EU by just 50,000 – one-sixth of the current overall annual figure, according to new research.The projection of a “vanishingly small reduction” is one of the first attempts to estimate how likely labour market demand, and the government’s planned new controls, could reduce the number of migrants coming to the UK. Reduction in immigrant numbers has been repeatedly cited in polls as the chief reason voters backed leaving the European Union.Related: Brexit bill: MPs reject amendment to protect EU citizens in UK Continue reading...

Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble tells Athens it can cut its £280bn debt only by leaving the single currencyThe Greek government has expressed hope of an imminent deal with its EU creditors, despite a warning from the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, that the country could cut its debts only by leaving the single currency.

Chief operating officer will manage Bank’s strategy during Brexit negotiations and sit on monetary policy committeeThe Bank of England has appointed Charlotte Hogg as its second most powerful executive, in a role that hands the former financier the task of keeping a check on Britain’s financial sector.Hogg has been appointed deputy governor for markets and banking, while consolidating her position at Threadneedle Street by retaining her current role as the central bank’s chief operating officer. She replaces Minouche Shafik, who is becoming director of the London School of Economics. Continue reading...

Consumers and employees want to know where their companies stand on Trump’s policies. Here’s how businesses should be reactingOn 12 January, a week before the inauguration, LL Bean found itself smack bang in the middle of one of now-President Trump’s notorious tweets:Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L.Bean for your great support and courage. People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean. @LBPerfectMaineMy daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!Related: Super Bowl ads trolling Trump: 'The world is more beautiful the more you accept' Continue reading...

But crazy spending plans that have led to huge rise in borrowing by junk-rated firms are likely to be blocked by CongressWall Street is making some big bets on Donald Trump. One of the biggest is that the US president can persuade Congress to unravel the Dodd-Frank Act that he believes ties the financial services industry in knots. Bank shares have carried the US stock market higher ever since Trump said it was a priority.Another big bet is on a Trump-inspired spending spree by Congress on all manner of infrastructure projects, including the Mexican wall and on the military. This bet gets a steroid boost when traders add in the impact of huge tax cuts, albeit for the richest, trade tariffs on imports (protecting smaller US firms from competition) and a supposedly benign form of blackmail targeting major corporations that consider opening factories abroad (forcing them to locate inside the US).Related: Why Donald Trump can't bully China on tradeTrump needs to win over eight Democrats in the Senate to push through his agenda; that looks increasingly unlikely. Continue reading...

Beijing holds trillions of dollars in US debt and any trade disruption could lead to huge price rises in the budget stores on which many Americans relyAs US President Donald Trump proceeds to destabilise the postwar global economic order, much of the world is collectively holding its breath. Commentators search for words to describe his assault on conventional norms of leadership and tolerance in a modern liberal democracy. The mainstream media, faced with a president who might sometimes be badly uninformed and yet really believes what he is saying, hesitate to label conspicuously false statements as lies.But some would argue that beneath the chaos and bluster, there is an economic rationale to the Trump administration’s disorderly retreat from globalisation. According to this view, the US has been duped into enabling China’s ascendency, and one day Americans will come to regret it. We economists tend to view abdication of US world leadership as a historic mistake.Related: Trump’s honeymoon with the stock market will soon be over | Nouriel Roubini Continue reading...

David Hodge has been a thorn in the government’s side over its pernicious cuts. Next month’s budget will reveal who really won this power struggleNo one likes to be duped. Did David Hodge, leader of Surrey council, pull a fast one when he said he would hold a referendum to raise council tax by an eye-catching 15%?Last month his office called me to offer an interview, knowing I would heartily approve of anything that would hold the government’s feet to the fire over the crisis in social care, with its knock-on effect on the NHS. It’s time to alert all voters – especially Tory voters – to the shocking mistreatment and neglect of many older people who are denied the care they need.The referendum was set to become a rallying point for councils everywhereRelated: PMQs verdict: Jeremy Corbyn's leaked texts give him the upper hand Continue reading...

A new volunteer-run law centre in Manchester is the exception. More commonly, advice services across the country are either closed or strugglingOut of a red-brick shop front in Manchester’s Moss Side, the Greater Manchester Law Centre is set to fight for a piece of the welfare state. John Nicholson – a local barrister and chair of the GMLC – puts it like this: “We’re not just a law centre. We’re a campaign for justice.”To understand exactly how one small, volunteer-run law centre is launching a fightback against the government – and with it, what it represents for towns and cities up and down the country – we have to go back almost four years, to the spring of 2013. This was when the legal aid budget was gutted by £350m a year. Overnight, a cancer patient found “fit for work” or a cleaner sacked for falling pregnant was priced out of the legal system.When the South Manchester Law Centre closed in 2014, for many it was the final straw, and the impetus to do somethingRelated: Legal aid cuts creating two-tier justice system, says Amnesty Continue reading...

Unhappy at how economics is out of touch with reality and defined by an elite, Joe Earle, Cahal Moran and Zach Ward-Perkins sum up their explosive call for changeIn the autumn of 2011, as the world’s financial system lurched from crash to crisis, the authors of this book began, as undergraduates, to study economics. While their lectures took place at the University of Manchester the eurozone was in flames. The students’ first term would last longer than the Greek government. Banks across the west were still on life support. And David Cameron was imposing on Britons year on year of swingeing spending cuts.Related: The end of capitalism has begunThe high priests of economics still hold power, but they no longer have legitimacy Continue reading...

Your article on the government’s housing white paper (English housing market ‘broken’, Javid admits at launch of white paper, 8 February) highlights many of the issues and hurdles we must overcome if we are to fix the “broken” housing market. But the omission of analysis of the impact of our ageing population ignores a fundamental reason why the market needs to be fixed. And while the white paper referenced some of the changes necessary, a significant amount of further work needs to be done. We know that over the next 25 years, the proportion of households where the oldest person is 85 or over will grow faster than any other age group, and homes that meet the needs of older people will be in greater demand.Related: 'Stop dithering and start building' - experts on the housing white paperRelated: Housing crisis: the empty nester's guide to downsizingRelated: England's housing market is 'broken', government admits in white paper Continue reading...

Markets fear Greece is on course for another debt crisis following rift between its European lenders and the International Monetary Fund

Ted Malloch, proposed US ambassador to the EU, casts doubt on survival of eurozone and says Athens should return to drachmaDonald Trump’s administration has put itself on a fresh collision course with the European Union after the president’s candidate to be ambassador in Brussels said Greece should leave the euro and predicted the single currency would not survive more than 18 months in its present form.Days after being accused of “outrageous malevolence” towards the EU for publicly declaring that it “needs a little taming”, Ted Malloch courted fresh controversy by saying Greece should have left the eurozone four years ago when it would have been “easier and simpler”.Related: European parliament leaders call on EU to reject Trump's likely ambassador pickGreece should get out of the euro & go back to their own currency--they are just wasting time.Related: EU leaders warily await Donald Trump's choice of ambassador | Patrick WintourRelated: Greece's debt costs rise sharply as worries grow over IMF role Continue reading...

Bank forecasts that UK pay growth is likely to slow despite hopes being raised as economy shrugs off effects of Brexit voteHopes of bumper pay rises as the economy shrugs off the effects of the Brexit vote appear to be dashed by a Bank of England survey that predicts a decline in wages growth this year.A report by the central bank’s regional agents found that the increase in average pay settlements, far from strengthening in response to higher inflation, will decline from 2.7% to 2.2% this year.Related: Bank of England sharply raises UK growth forecast Continue reading...

Slower growth after Brexit vote and ageing population will hit budget over next decade, says leading thinktankThe government is on course to impose steep cuts in public spending and increase taxes by the end of the decade to their highest level in 30 years to combat the UK’s persistent budget deficit.But slower economic growth after the Brexit vote and lower than expected tax receipts will still leave the UK with one of the largest shortfalls in public spending in the developed world, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.Related: IFS warns of biggest squeeze on pay for 70 years over Brexit Continue reading...

Investors worried by fund’s warnings country’s debt burden is unsustainable and reported split over joining latest bailoutFresh worries over Greece’s debts have pushed the country’s borrowing costs sharply higher amid renewed insistence from Athens it will not swallow further austerity demands from international lenders.The yields on two-year government bonds jumped to their highest level since last June and went above 10% to reflect growing anxiety on financial markets over Greece’s ability to keep up to date with debt repayments. Yields on 10-year government bonds were also higher at above 7.8%, the highest close since November.Related: Greek debt crisis: an existentialist drama with no good end in sight | Larry ElliottRelated: Grexit? Greece again on the brink as debt crisis threatens break with EU Continue reading...

Investors are worried about the Greek debt talks, and elections in France and Germany

Chronic underfunding means that even basic needs for the most vulnerable are not being met, says shadow social care minister Barbara KeeleyAsk Barbara Keeley what keeps her awake at night and Labour’s shadow cabinet member for mental health and social care will tell you it’s the stories of people in “heartrending” situations whose care is being cut.Related: For equitable and sustainable social care we need a dedicated tax | Paul BurstowIt isn’t fair to create an even bigger postcode lottery where the level of service you can get depends on where you live Continue reading...

PwC predicts UK will be hit in short term by Brexit, but will outperform US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan by 2050The UK could shake off the near-term impact of Brexit to become the fastest-growing economy in the G7 group of rich countries between now and 2050, according to a report that paints a bright outlook for the country’s prospects outside the EU.Consultants PwC say the UK economy will not escape entirely unscathed from the decision to leave the bloc and that it will dampen growth prospects in the short term. But the brunt of the impact would be felt by 2020 and in the years that follow the UK would outperform its peers thanks to its relatively large working age population and its flexible economy.Related: Voting for Brexit hasn’t saved us from secretive trade deals Continue reading...

The ECB’s Mario Draghi is right to warn against relaxing rules such as Dodd-Frank aimed at preventing another financial crisis“The last thing we want at this point in time is a relaxation of regulation,” said Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank on Monday. He is right to worry. Relaxation of financial regulation is exactly what Donald Trump has in mind and the effects could be felt around the world.The US president seems to have accepted the half-baked idea that US banks are somehow so tied down by international regulations that they are obliged to hoard capital that could be used for lending to the American economy. “I have so many people, friends of mine, who have nice businesses who can’t borrow money,” said Trump when he signed an executive order last week.Related: British firms suffer Brexit impact, as ECB's Draghi warns on US protectionism – as it happened Continue reading...

Half of UK bosses report that their firms are suffering from the vote to leave the EU; ECB’s Draghi worried by US administration comments

Sartre’s Huis Clos has three damned souls arguing in a room for eternity. Greece has Tsipras, Schäuble and Lagarde. Now there’s a fourth: enter stage right Donald TrumpPut three people in a room who can’t get on with each other. Condemn them to stay there for all eternity while they torture each other. Sit and watch as the gruesome story plays out. And what do you have?One answer is the 1944 existentialist play by Jean-Paul Sartre, Huis Clos. Another is the story of the neverending Greek debt crisis in which the three main characters are Alexis Tsipras, Wolfgang Schäuble and Christine Lagarde.

The current economy seems to defy the Bank of England’s predictions. Perhaps that is because pay growth has become so much harder to forecastOn the face of it, the Bank of England’s freshly minted forecast for this year looked rosy. A glance at the headline figure of 2% growth in the quarterly inflation report was much better than the Bank’s gloomy forecast last year of 0.8%.A 2% growth rate will again put the UK in the top rank of developed world nations and have City analysts scratching their heads over the apparent strength of the UK economy. How, they ask, with uncertainty clouding the horizon, can the great British consumer be so confident about prospects and merrily carry on spending? Continue reading...

Once the UK leaves the EU, Liam Fox will be presented with arrangements more secretive and toxic than anything the EU has ever demandedA turbocharged version of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could be heading Britain’s way after Theresa May’s Brexit white paper. That’s the upsetting irony for those (and there were a few) who voted to leave the European Union to escape nasty trade deals that involve secret courts to resolve corporate disputes.These are the courts that some of the world’s biggest companies have used when they want to overturn local laws that jeopardise their profits. Tobacco company Philip Morris was a keen exponent. Its legal suits in Australia, Uruguay and others against plain cigarette packaging caused an outcry and cost the respective governments millions of pounds in legal fees, even though it failed. Continue reading...

The Resolution Foundation’s prediction that inequalities are going to grow (UK faces return to inequality of Thatcher years, 1 February) makes gloomy reading. Sadly it is underestimated because it takes no account of cuts in what Barbara Castle, when she was secretary of state at the Department of Health and Social Security 40 years ago, called “the social wage”. By this she meant “the publicly provided services which mean so much to family healthcare, education, housing and a good environment”. She estimated that in 1975 the social wage added £20 a week to the average working household. At the time the average full-time weekly wage of a male manual worker was £52 and a female manual worker £31.Every week you have reported cuts not only to health, education and social care but also to parks, museums, libraries, children’s centres, buses and public lavatories. All these services are essential to a caring society and can only be provided collectively. They are part of our social fabric and the more threadbare this becomes the less autonomy children, people with disabilities and older, frail people enjoy. At the same time it becomes harder for their families to support them. Instead of insisting that families should do more (and they already do a great deal – there are five times as many family and friends caring for older people as there are paid carers), the government should reverse the massive cuts made to local authorities’ budgets and increase the “social wage”.

Rolling coverage of the first American employment report since Donald Trump became US president

Political uncertainty drove investment demand up by 70% in 2016, while global demand was at highest level since 2013The Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump drove global demand for gold to a four-year high in 2016, as pension funds and other institutional investors piled into the precious metal while higher prices put consumers off jewellery purchases.Global gold demand rose 2% last year to reach 4,309 tonnes, the highest level since 2013, according to a report from the World Gold Council, which represents gold miners.Related: Gold: key trends helping the metal keep its shine Continue reading...