Economics

A record number of people in the UK are on zero hours contracts, which are very controversial as they offer no guarantee of work, leading to income instability. These contracts are widely used by retailers, restaurants, leisure companies and hotels. These worrying figures follow on form a report we covered yesterday that over 5 million children will suffer child poverty by 2022 as households face a squeeze on wages. Now the number of workers who are on zero hours contracts...

More worrying economic news has emerged, this time from The Institute for Fiscal Studies. They believe that child poverty will reach 5.1 million by 2022 as households face a squeeze on wages. The think-tank believes that average pay rate won’t grow over the next two years. The analysis says households are suffering the worst slowdown in incomes for 60 years and if planned benefit cuts go ahead, and earnings growth slow, inequality will start to rise over the next five...

The Eurozone economy is expanding at the fastest pace since 2011 on the back of German manufacturing, showing clear signs that it is recovering from the sovereign debt crisis that swept through the region. According to the composite purchasing managers' index compiled by IHS Markit the expansion of industry reached an almost six-year high with German manufacturers reporting expansion at an astonishing 69-month high with the sector’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rising to 57 points. Quelle surprise, according to another related study the...

The dream of Thatcher’s government was a nation where everybody owned their own home. Council houses would not be needed, or at least only for the tiny minority who couldn’t afford it. Her huge sell-off of council houses in the 80s was supposed to eliminate the need for public housing, and create a new society, or indeed no society at all. This way of thinking has been the policy of every Conservative Government since Thatcher, and also under Tony Blair’s...

The 80s were a boom time for many in the city of London and in the financial sector, but for huge swathes of the rest of the UK poverty prevailed, and the gap between the rich and the poor widened hugely, compared to the previous decade. Reagan’s and Thatcher’s free market capitalism, gave some people the chance to amass great wealth, however the decline of heavy industries left many without any form of income. Now a think tank, the Resolution...

As world leaders gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum, Dr Richard Dodgson, Lecturer in International Politics at Newcastle University, is warning that the gap between rich and poor will only be reduced if political leaders are willing to challenge the status quo. He says: “As the World Economic Forum kicks off, the eyes of the world are on Davos. This gathering of the great and the good from across the globe is positioned as an opportunity for the world’s...

Following the resignation of EU Ambassador Sir Ivan Rogers, the Government has selected his replacement, “seasoned and tough negotiator” Sir Tim Barrow. Sir Ivan Rogers, who has been labelled a ‘Remoaner’ by pro-Leave supporters after saying it may take 10 years for the UK to settle a trade deal, quit unceremoniously on January 3. According to Downing Street, Sir Tim Barrow will bring energy to the Brexit negotiating table, and is committed to delivering the “right outcome”. Many Britons will...

PM May’s first major interview of 2017 sent the pound into free fall after she made comments hinting at a “hard-Brexit.” She told Sky News that the UK will not try and keep “bits of EU membership.” During the interview she said: “Often people talk in terms as if somehow we are leaving the EU but we still want to kind of keep bits of membership of the EU. We are leaving. We are coming out. We are not going...

In the weeks leading up to the June 23 Brexit referendum, the Bank of England warned that a vote to leave the European Union could result in a recession, raising fears that housing prices could plummet. Yet in the months following the controversial vote, inflation rates have stabilised and housing prices have slowly risen. Between May and August, housing prices increased by a total of 0.87%, with growth rates of approximately 0.15% each month. And as described below, a 0.063%...