A word of caution: the president-elect’s infrastructure plans appear to rely on money he hopes other people will provideAmerican investors seem naively trusting of President-elect Trump’s economic plans. On one hand, they say those wild campaign pledges to slap stiff tariffs on Chinese and Mexican imports in pursuit of the most protectionist US trade policy since the 1930s should not be taken too literally. On the other, they conclude that a Trump presidency definitely means heavy investment in infrastructure, which will be excellent news for all those suppliers of raw materials and equipment needed to upgrade roads, bridges, schools, tunnels, electricity networks and so on.Both thoughts are understandable, of course. Even Trump has never been firm on the idea of 45% tariffs on China. It was a threat “if they don’t behave,” he said during one debate, “it doesn’t have to be 45%, it could be less”. Plenty of scope there to water down the policy. Continue reading...

Wall Street reacted positively to the election of Donald Trump as the 45th US president, despite his victory sparking panic on global markets earlier in the day. But experts warned that the US, and global, economy faces a very uncertain future.

History suggests Donald Trump’s package for growth and jobs works but at a cost of higher inflation and a bigger budget deficitBecome a Guardian supporter or make a contributionBy voting for Donald Trump, Americans have chosen the candidate with the more radical programme for the economy. Hillary Clinton’s proposals were cautious, costed and conservative. By contrast, the president-elect is gambling that he can shift the US out of its post-financial crisis torpor through a mixture of tax cuts and spending increases even though they run the risk of higher inflation and a bigger budget deficit.Although Trump campaigned as an outsider, his policies have been tried before. Ronald Reagan said his tax cuts and extra spending for the Pentagon would generate higher revenues and balance the budget. It didn’t. Tax breaks for the rich and military Keynesianism sent the deficit rocketing.Related: Trump's economic policies: protectionism, low taxes and coal mines Continue reading...

From trade war with China to jobs turmoil in Mexico, Trump’s reign will pose new threats to already fragile world economyDonald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections will have implications for the whole global economy. Continue reading...

The financial markets have been rocked by Donald Trump’s victory in the US election, but what are the president elect’s policies?Become a Guardian supporter or make a contributionAfter a long and bitter campaign for the US presidency, Donald Trump has triumphed over Hillary Clinton and the world’s financial markets have been rocked.For Trump’s supporters he represents a chance to shake up a system that many Americans feel has increased inequality and squeezed living standards. For less complacent investors, there are worries Trump’s anti-globalisation mantra will spread protectionism around the world, put up trade barriers and curb global economic growth. Furthermore, markets do not like unknowns and with Trump going to the White House they are dealing with a complete newcomer to politics. His administration is widely expected to mark a departure from the policies of his own Republican party as well as the outgoing Democrats.In terms of trade deals, both TTIP and the TPP now look dead in the water Continue reading...

Economic and political forecasters failed to predict the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 2008 recession – and this year has been even worse• Become a Guardian supporter or make a contributionGlobal markets were rocked by the stunning news from the US presidential election. The Mexican peso was down 12% at one point. The US dollar fell 2.5% against the yen. Markets have been hedging a Trump win with gold, which was up by $40 an ounce, or 3.2%. Uncertainty is in the air.It must be said that this has been a disastrous decade for professional forecasters of the economic and political varieties. Donald Trump was behind in the daily poll average published by Real Clear Politics every one of the past 95 days and won. On Monday 7 November, of the 10 national polls that were issued, nine had Trump behind. A couple of polling organisations did have it right but were ignored. It turns out that a Trump victory wasn’t a total surprise. The IBD/TIPP tracking poll, which was the most accurate in the previous three elections, 2004, 2008 and 2012, in its final poll on 8 November had Trump two points ahead. The LA Times tracking poll had Trump consistently ahead since the end of October and in its latest poll on Monday he was ahead by three. The biggest difference apparently involved weighting – that is, the process of adjusting a poll’s data to make sure it properly represents the diversity of the population.Related: Globalisation backlash enters new phase with Trump win Continue reading...

This is a political and cultural cataclysm that few believed would really happen. It’s a bleak day for America, and for the pluralism and diversity the country has come to stand for

Trump’s victory is a betrayal of ethnic minorities and women. Progressives must direct their energies to building an alternative to the failed neoliberal model

Dollar’s reputation and possible tax cuts go towards explaining reaction. But dangers presented by his presidency must not be ignored

Goods trade deficit rose in September by £1.6bn to £12.7bn with exports falling by £200m despite many goods being cheaperBritain’s trade deficit with the rest of the world widened unexpectedly in September as the sharp fall in the pound since the Brexit vote failed to boost exports.The UK trade in goods deficit increased by £1.6bn over the month to £12.7bn. Imports rose £1.3bn to £38.8bn, while exports fell by £200m to £26.1bn. Imports of ships, materials, vehicles and oil were all up in September, the Office for National Statistics said.Related: Markets reassured by Trump victory speech after initial losses - live updates Continue reading...

Dollar weakens, Asian stocks down sharply and gold prices rally, but victory speech reassures traders• Become a Guardian supporter or make a contributionGlobal markets were rocked on Wednesday by Donald Trump’s victory in the US election but recovered from their worst falls as the president-elect made conciliatory remarks in his victory speech and Wall Street opened higher.As the scale of Trump’s success became clear, Asian stocks fell sharply, the dollar weakened and gold prices rallied as investors raced for cover amid anxiety about his economic policies.Related: US election 2016 live: Donald Trump defies polls and closes in on presidencyRelated: Presidential election sees markets and dollar plunge as Trump nears victory – live Continue reading...

The mogul’s victory is likely to mean structural changes for the US economy – and could herald similar shocks worldwide• Become a Guardian supporter or make a contributionSame story. Different country. Much, much bigger implications. That’s the economic message from Donald Trump’s victory in the year of shocks. By comparison, Brexit was a sideshow.If 1989 was the year that marked the beginning of the global age, 2016 has been the year when the basic tenets of globalisation have been challenged – first in the UK and now in the US. The wall came down in Berlin on a November night 27 years ago. The question now is whether they start going up again.Related: Markets reassured by Trump victory speech after initial losses - live updatesRelated: Will the US election mean the end of free trade? Continue reading...

From climate change to security, experts give their first thoughts on how a Trump win could change the country and the regionWe asked a panel of experts how a Donald Trump presidency could affect Australia, on everything from climate change policy to trade and regional security.Related: Donald Trump wins presidential election, plunging US into uncertain futureRelated: After the US result, the instinct of Australia's politicians was to soothe. That says a lot | Katharine MurphyRelated: Australian market loses $35bn as key states go Trump's wayRelated: 'Make Australia Great Again': rightwing MPs delight in likely Trump presidency Continue reading...

By giving more power to the regions, we can create a confident, more equal and outward-looking BritainIt’s official. The north-south divide in Britain is now wider than at any time since the beginning of the industrial revolution – wider than when Charles Dickens was writing about Victorian squalor, and wider than in the depression years of the 1930s, when George Orwell exposed the grinding poverty of northern England in The Road to Wigan Pier.Remarkable new evidence from a study by the academic Philip McCann, The UK Regional-National Economic Problem, shows that while economic output per head, measured by gross value added, is near £43,000 a year in London – and as high as £135,000 in inner west London – almost half the UK population lives, in regions where output per head is below £22,325.Nothing the chancellor’s autumn statement can offer will be sufficient to bridge this divideRelated: Brexit would widen the north-south divide as poorest areas stand to lose most | Peter Hetherington Continue reading...

Sugar levy | Migraine cure | Sweary women | Age-inappropriate clothing | CetaIn today’s Guardian there was a Tesco advert proudly stating that all their 251 drinks will be below the government’s proposed sugar levy. In other major supermarkets there are aisles full of similar drinks labelled “sugar-free” and even “healthy option”. Most have added artificial sweeteners, which may not be fattening but are known to have negative side-effects. Why are they being allowed to get away with selling this stuff?

Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments as they happen

The port city was late to the party when it came to embracing urban regeneration. But, as next year’s UK City of Culture, it’s hoping to ride a wave of artistic and economic investment to compete with its noisy northern neighbours‘Change is happening!” says the message stencilled, in bright green, on a peeling wall just behind Hull’s new marina. And if that sounds a little wistful, given that right now it’s overlooking an empty car park surrounded by wire fencing, it has the underlying ring of truth.It’s two decades since I was last in Hull, frozen in my memory as one long Saturday night – short skirts, hot chips, scuffles in taxi queues, excitement edged with nerves. Back then I was working just over the Humber Bridge in Grimsby, and Hull was the bright light across the water, home of gigs and cavernous nightclubs and all the exotic thrills small towns lack. Those clubs are now mostly gone, but the tingling anticipation in the air is back. A city long buffeted by the wrong kinds of change now stands on the verge of potential renaissance; for Hull is next year’s official UK City of Culture, beneficiary of a public art project aiming to do here what similar European programmes did for Liverpool in 2008 and Glasgow in 1990.Related: Hull: 10 reasons to visit the UK city of culture 2017 Continue reading...

The world will never again build cities as rapidly as it does this century. If we are serious about limiting global warming, tackling air pollution and promoting innovative, resource-efficient growth, there is a narrow window of opportunityAlmost as staggering as the current enormous influx into cities across the globe is the dramatic slowdown in urbanisation that will follow it. The world is literally going to town on urbanisation – but it is a project that is both immense and historically fleeting.In less than 100 years, the world’s urban population is expected to double to 8 or 9 billion – accounting for the bulk of a projected global population of around 11 billion. Yet in all the centuries that follow this one, cities may add, at most, another billion to their ranks. So if this century is the most urbanising in history, it will also mark the end of humankind’s “great urbanisation” era.

The consequences of cuts made years ago are now becoming visible: rising food poverty, failing flood defences and disorder in the prison system“Austerity” is a term so abstract that, during the televised leaders debates at the last general election, the most commonly Googled phrase in Britain was “what is austerity?” That was after five years of it. Yes, workers suffered the longest squeeze in their wages since the 19th century, but the fall in living standards was somehow decoupled from the issue of cuts. Government cuts pursued the following strategy: to target people who were less likely to vote (such as young people) and who preferably were held in low esteem by wider society (such as benefit claimants); or where the consequences would not be felt for a long time. A case in point: the prison system.Over the last few days, the crisis enveloping Britain’s prison system stopped being a warning scribbled in press releases. It become an actuality. This weekend, up to 200 inmates rioted in Bedford prison. Yesterday, two prisoners escaped from Pentonville prison and are now on the run. And on the same day, there were reports of a riot in Exeter prison. Continue reading...

North Sea oil shutdowns contributed to Britain’s maufacturing sector shrinking in the third quarterBritain’s industrial sector shrank unexpectedly in September as North Sea oil shutdowns dragged output lower, weighing on the broader economy in the third quarter.Industrial output fell by 0.4% over the month, matching August’s drop and disappointing expectations that production would be flat. While mining and quarrying shrank by 3.8% according to the Office for National Statistics, manufacturing performed better than expected with output growing by 0.6%.Related: UK manufacturers putting off investment plans, poll shows Continue reading...

Decision that Tories cannot trigger Brexit alone had widespread impact. As sterling soared, the rightwing press was abhorredWelcome to the Guardian’s weekly Brexit briefing, a summary of developments as Britain moves in fits and starts towards the EU exit. If you’d like to receive it as a weekly email, please sign up here.Producing the Guardian’s thoughtful, in-depth journalism is expensive – but supporting us isn’t. If you value our Brexit coverage, please become a Guardian supporter and help make our future more secure. Thank you.I worry that a betrayal may be near at hand … I now fear that every attempt will be made to block or delay the triggering of article 50. If this is so, they have no idea of the level of public anger they will provoke.I believe in and value the independence of our judiciary. I also value the freedom of our press. These both underpin our democracy.There’s a balance between consulting parliament, and not undermining the government’s negotiating position ... If parliament insists on setting out a detailed minimum negotiating position, that will quickly become the maximum possible offer from the negotiating partners ... In other words, the whole approach is designed to wreck the negotiation.I hope this doesn’t cause even more vagueness and more of a delay, because that’s bad for the UK as well as for the EU ... One of the biggest risks of this process is that it will lead to a very long period of uncertainty.Related: A 2017 general election? Here’s why the Tories may not storm to victory | John CurticeUntil now, May has combined secretiveness with hinting that a tough negotiation stance on migration would make single market access difficult. That approach will not withstand the impact of the need to consult parliament. She must face the likelihood that both the Commons and the Lords will focus on securing single market access in ways that could split the cabinet and provoke resignations. The courts have left May little alternative but to change course on the most important issue of her premiership.There are times when MPs need to rise above their party interests, their own interests and the views of their constituents. That may risk being voted out, but they may earn more respect by standing up for the national interest as best they can determine: that’s what representative democracy is for. Brexit is the greatest threat to national wellbeing since the war, and this will test the mettle not just of individual MPs, but of the nature and purpose of a representative democratic system.In March EU leaders will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bloc’s founding treaty of Rome. The 27 will pay tribute to the ideal of integration that has given Europe its longest era of peace and prosperity in history. They will affirm that the EU does not imprison or weaken nations but multiplies their strengths when they act together. Above all, they will pledge to save their marriage because they regard the alternative as unbearably worse.No technicality will be found to stop Brexit, nobody will snap their fingers and wake us up. It’s not enough to point to looming catastrophes and say what we don’t want; it’s not enough to concentrate on what we might lose. We need to consider what could be better, in a Brexited Britain. That is dauntingly open-ended until we establish whose and which interests we want to press.I've written a basic law lesson for those criticising judges about the #brexit judgment. Judges are not #enemiesofthepeople pic.twitter.com/WMfZEkmzUq Continue reading...

As families face annual cuts of up to £6,000, the government’s vilification of the poorest has turned hearts to stoneThe axe fell yesterday, as the cap on what a family can receive in benefits was cut by £3,000 a year in London, double that in the rest of the country. But that’s not the worst of what’s to come. Do cuts summon up “I, Daniel Blake” indignation? No, pollsters find the benefit cap among the most popular of government policies.Related: Creating child poverty for a whole new generation. Take a bow, Theresa May | Aditya ChakraborttyRelated: This callous benefit cap reduction will hit families hard this Christmas Continue reading...

Barclaycard says spending rose 5.5% in October, but warns spending growth could subside amid inflation fearsBumper box office takings, strong trade in pubs and a rush for winter clothes drove a solid rise in consumer spending last month, according to new figures.Barclaycard said spending rose 5.5% on a year earlier in October, the strongest growth since it started publishing monthly health checks on consumer finances in 2011. But it warned the trend of solid spending growth could soon fizzle out as households worry about inflation.Related: Six MPs make surprise visit to Sports Direct's Shirebrook warehouse Continue reading...

Tax and spending experts predict slow growth and high inflation will lead to hole in public finances by end of current parliamentBritain’s leading tax and spending experts have warned Philip Hammond that his options are limited in this month’s autumn statement after predicting that slower growth and higher inflation will punch a £25bn hole in the public finances by the end of the current parliament.The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that if economic forecasters were right about the impact of Brexit, the new chancellor would have to extend austerity after the next election in order to finally eradicate the budget deficit built up during the financial crisis of 2008-09.Related: Half UK budget deficit 'is down to job destruction in older industrial areas' Continue reading...

UN says measures aimed at reducing public spending since 2010 have affected disabled people disproportionatelyAusterity policies introduced into welfare and social care by the UK government amount to “systematic violations” of the rights of people with disabilities, a UN inquiry has concluded.It says a range of measures aimed at reducing public spending since 2010, including controversial changes such as the bedroom tax, and cuts to disability benefits and social care budgets have disproportionately and adversely affected disabled people.Related: The Guardian view on austerity: reversing Robin Hood | EditorialRelated: Luke can’t move, drink or use the loo. The council offered him a tea urn | Frances Ryan Continue reading...

If the politician does amass his 100,000 racists and xenophobes and march on the supreme court, I will be there, standing against him. Who will stand with me?It wasn’t the doomy medical diagnosis that caused F Scott Fitzgerald’s mental breakdown. It was moment the doctors told him he was going to be OK. “After about an hour of solitary pillow-hugging,” wrote the novelist in 1936, “I began to realize that for two years my life had been a drawing on resources that I did not possess, that I had been mortgaging myself physically and spiritually up to the hilt.”Come the day of the supreme-court judgment on Brexit, the progressive part of Britain could be forgiven if it succumbed to a Fitzgerald-style “crack-up”. Nigel Farage will mobilise 100,000 racists and xenophobes to intimidate the court; the justices will probably ignore them and uphold the high-court verdict. But it is beginning to feel as if liberal democracy in Britain is, too, “drawing on resources it does not possess”.Related: After the Brexit vote, my pride in taking British citizenship is fading | Fran LawtherRelated: Are Farage and Trump really fascists? | Kevin Passmore Continue reading...

Survey reveals sharp rise in proportion of factory bosses saying political uncertainty is deterring them from raising spendingBritish manufacturers have fanned fears that the economy is heading for a slowdown in 2017 after a survey showed a rise in factory bosses putting off plans to increase investment.Since the EU referendum there has been a sharp rise in the proportion of executives saying political uncertainty is putting them off raising spending, according to a poll by the manufacturers’ organisation the EEF. It found a quarter of manufacturers cited this as a reason when asked in the wake of the vote, up sharply from 6% when the referendum campaign was getting under way in March. Continue reading...

Alexis Tsipras says time has come to speed up measures agreed with the country’s international creditorsThe Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has reshuffled his government to boost bailout reforms in the hope of getting the EU to agree to critical debt relief by the end of the year.Heralding a new political era for his country, the embattled leader said on Sunday the time had come to expedite measures demanded by international creditors and “turn the page”. Hardline ministers who had criticised policies including privatisations were dumped for moderate technocrats in what was interpreted as a further shift to the centre by the man who once personified the hope of Europe’s radical left.Related: Eurogroup ministers back further bailout loans for Greece Continue reading...

Report finds that legacy of hollowing-out of manufacturing in 1980s is far more people claiming incapacity benefitsThe enduring impact of closing factories and shutting coalmines in the 1980s has been revealed in new research showing that the drain on the exchequer from former industrial areas is responsible for up to half the government’s £55bn budget deficit.Related: The legacy of leaving old industrial Britain to rot is becoming clear | Larry Elliott Continue reading...

The hollowing-out of British industry since the 1980s is the single biggest change to the UK economy in the postwar eraTime to move on. That was the message from the home secretary when she announced that the government would not be holding a public inquiry into the clashes between police and miners at the Orgreave coking plant during the year-long pit strike 32 years ago. Different world in 1984, said Amber Rudd. It was a long time ago. No point in raking over the past.The site of the coking plant is now Sheffield University’s hugely successful advanced manufacturing centre, a place that brings together academics and business to ensure the best research has a commercial end product. To the extent that there was ever a plan in the 1980s, this was it. The mines, the shipyards, the textile mills and the engineering plants were being shut down because they could not compete but would be be replaced by gleaming-new centres of high-tech industrial excellence.

Philip Hammond will tinker boringly around the edges in his autumn statement, and neither the threat of inflation nor weak consumer confidence looks likely to prod him into actionPhilip Hammond will be a cautious chancellor: that much is becoming clear. Not for him the fireworks that became a familiar sight whenever George Osborne presented a budget – some of which went off in his face.Hammond will be less concerned with manufacturing tricks designed to cheer his backbench colleagues than with the fate of manufacturing itself and British industry more widely. In this respect, he is the Conservative party’s answer to Alistair Darling – an unflappable curator of the public finances, steering the economy through choppy waters. Continue reading...

Minister deals blow to PM’s hopes of post-Brexit talks on eve of visitTheresa May’s hopes of a post-Brexit trade deal with India suffered a hammer blow from Delhi as the prime minister prepared to make her first official visit to the country.A spokesman for India’s minister of external affairs suggested that a policy brought in by May as home secretary restricting the right of Indian students to stay in the UK after graduation could prove to be a block on any progress. Continue reading...

In some western countries frustration with the status quo is boosting populist and rightwing political partiesThe US is not the only western nation to be undergoing political ructions over the faltering post-crisis recovery. New counter-establishment parties have emerged in several countries and, as in the UK, people have voted for dramatic change. Meanwhile, there’s a growing sense in developed economies that workers have yet to benefit from the recovery or rising globalisation. Continue reading...

Stock markets in Asia and Europe are recovering, despite the massive uncertainty caused by last week’s EU referendum

Official data shows first increase, when including housing costs, since 2011-12, with 3.9 million living in relative povertyThe number of children living in poverty in the UK has jumped by 200,000 in a year, according to the latest official data.There were 3.9 million children living in “relative poverty” in 2014-15, up from 3.7 million a year earlier, the figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show.Related: Expect fall in UK living standards and foreign investment, MPs hear Continue reading...

Brexit budget plans need to be ditched in favour of higher public investment to prevent recession, say top economistsLiving standards are expected to fall as a result of the vote to quit the EU and foreign companies will be deterred from investing in Britain, according to economists appearing before a parliamentary committee.They called on the chancellor to ditch plans for a tough budget of tax rises and spending cuts in favour of higher public investment to prevent the UK sinking into recession. Continue reading...

Fitch ratings agency says Britain’s decision to leave the EU could lead to lower growth and higher unemployment in Ireland

FTSE 100 has clawed back Monday’s losses, after world markets suffer their biggest two-day falls in history

Retailer’s chief executive says already challenging conditions have been further complicated by result of EU referendumShares in Carpetright have shed almost a fifth of their value amid fears that uncertainty caused by Britain’s decision to leave the EU will hit high street spending.Investors were spooked after its chief executive, Wilf Walsh, said trading conditions had been more challenging in recent weeks and added: “The outlook has been further complicated by the outcome of last week’s referendum and we are cautious about the impact the associated uncertainty will have on consumer confidence.” Continue reading...

We need them more than ever. And yet, as is painfully obvious in south-east Wales, they are disappearing from our roadsIn 1938, Dylan Thomas went to Laugharne: “just came, one day, for the day, and never left; got off the bus, and forgot to get on again”. You can still do that these days – to visit his boathouse and Brown’s hotel, and take a wet walk up Sir John’s Hill – if you’re a wayfaring sort with change for the fare.Most crucially, you have to travel on a Monday to Saturday. No buses depart from Carmarthen bus station on a Sunday any more. None at all. Not to Laugharne, not to Llansteffan, not to Kidwelly or Pendine or any of the other lovely resorts that are home for locals and great tips for tourists. Not in winter, not in summer.On a bus, common cause unites you. You are all going in the same directionRelated: Ban the barbies, purge the picnics. That’s my summer manifesto | Catherine Shoard Continue reading...

Virgin billionaire says ‘thousands and thousands’ of jobs will be lost following the decision to leave the EUVirgin billionaire, Sir Richard Branson, says Chinese business partners are already pulling investment from the UK in the light of the EU referendum vote, and warned that “thousands of jobs will be lost”.Speaking at the final round of Voom, a competition for young entrepreneurs hoping to secure funding and support from Virgin, Branson warned that the business climate after the Brexit vote was already hurting the economy.Related: Richard Branson starts his own campaign to keep Britain in the EU Continue reading...

Bank of America and Pimco tell clients that gulf between rich and poor could spark further anti-establishment backlashBritain’s historic vote to leave the EU has prompted some of the world’s most powerful investment houses to turn their focus to inequality.Bank of America and the international investment firm Pimco have warned their clients that the gulf between rich and poor could spark a further anti-establishment backlash.Related: Austerity is the cause of our economic woes. It’s nothing to do with the EU | Mariana MazzucatoRelated: Brussels rejects Boris Johnson 'pipe dream' over single market access Continue reading...

Major markets see biggest two-day fall in 10 months, but Moody’s analyst says referendum result may not cause real damage to US economyUS stock markets were rocked again on Monday by the aftershocks of the UK’s referendum decision to quit the European Union.Since the results became known on Thursday, the major US markets have suffered their biggest two-day fall in 10 months. Monday’s dips came as the pound collapsed to its lowest point since 1985 and the UK lost its triple-A credit rating. Continue reading...

Standard & Poor’s issues downgrade and pound hits 31-year low despite chancellor’s attempts to soothe marketsThe UK has been stripped of its last AAA rating as credit agency Standard & Poor’s warned of the economic, fiscal and constitutional risks the country now faces as a result of the EU referendum result.The two-notch downgrade came with a warning that S&P could slash its rating again. It described the result of the vote as “a seminal event” that would “lead to a less predictable stable and effective policy framework in the UK”. Continue reading...

The referendum shows how far Britain’s economic failures have divided the country, but Brexit will only make them harder to addressI was one of 150 academic economists, including 12 Nobel prize winners, who warned of the risks of Britain leaving Europe: recession, job losses, higher costs of living, lower investment, lower innovation and worsening public finances.We did this not because we were part of Project Fear, but because of our understanding of the problems in the UK’s economy, and their real causes. These include low investment, weak productivity and high inequality, problems that will not be solved by a Brexit.Britain’s politicians have failed to provide a vision about their nation’s future, or a sense of directionRelated: Boris Johnson broke Britain. So why should he be in charge of mending it? | Adam Bienkov Continue reading...

What happens when the investment banks move to Frankfurt and poor English people must pick strawberries in Kent? We have to find an alternative economic modelWe’ve done it before. In September 1931, faced with a 25% pay cut mandated by government austerity, the Royal Navy mutinied at the Scottish port of Invergordon. Sailors on HMS Rodney refused duties, dragged a piano on deck and sang a medley of pub songs. Other ships followed. It was not exactly Battleship Potemkin – but it went on to destroy the economic order of the world.A run on the pound began, forcing Britain to become the first major country to leave the gold standard. One after another, states abandoned gold and went for economic nationalism. The effect on Britain was benign: interest rates were slashed, austerity eased and – with the pound devalued – exports recovered. But the flight from gold killed the global economic system.Related: Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problemsRelated: How will Brexit affect Britain's trade with Europe? Continue reading...

Of course the chancellor had to row back on his dire pre-referendum warnings, but – for households, businesses and investors – we are in uncharted territoryGeorge Osborne had one job to do on Monday morning: calm panicking financial markets after Britain’s momentous vote to leave the EU last week.With the pound falling sharply again overnight, it was a tall order, especially for the man who just days ago was spearheading “project fear”.Related: Pound hit again by Brexit crisis – business live Continue reading...

China says companies may wait and see before investing in UK while Japan urges Britain to ‘listen to’ its 1,000 companies trading with the nationOfficials in Japan and China warned of new threats to the health of the UK and global economy in the aftermath of Britain’s leave decision as the pound continued to fall and Asian markets on Monday struggled to recoup heavy losses.Related: Brexit live: George Osborne tries to calm markets with early-morning speechRelated: Firms plan to quit UK as City braces for more post-Brexit lossesヒッチンズ駐日英国大使は、6月27日(月)、フィリップ・ハモンド外相の書簡を岸田文雄外相へ届けました。書簡全文はこちら⇒https://t.co/lmhgFRLoID @UKAmbTim pic.twitter.com/lyZvzkUMb8It is safe to assume investors are not yet done with all the selling Continue reading...

Chancellor to make morning statement to reassure markets as survey reveals negative business impact of EU voteBritish businesses have warned that Brexit will trigger investment cuts, hiring freezes and redundancies as the consequences of leaving the European Union threaten to destabilise markets further this week.Related: Brexit live: George Osborne tries to calm markets with early-morning speechRelated: Market turmoil fears likely to force Mark Carney to abandon ECB meetingRelated: Brexit triggers Corbyn coup: Watson 'saddened' by Labour departures – liveRelated: Bank of England seeks to limit damage of UK's vote to leave EURelated: Get ready for more market reaction to Brexit Continue reading...

We in the UK do not make anything. We make neither ships nor cars; we no longer even make the steel that makes these things. We do not make white goods, or black goods. We do not make textiles. We cannot heat, fuel, clothe or even feed ourselves. The only thing we had to offer for these essentials were our financial services – supplied to a trading bloc on which we have now deliberately turned our backs and to a rest of the world that only dealt with us because we were a member of that trading bloc. How, then, do we as a nation survive?