Economics

Robert Peston has described a £300 billion negative swing in foreign investment as "jaw-dropping" after new figures revealed FDI has dropped off a cliff since the Brexit vote. Global FDI flows reached their lowest level since 2013 in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to OECD figures. Inflows to the OECD area decreased by 37 per cent, largely driven by decreases in the United Kingdom and the United States from high levels in 2016. Outflows from the OECD area decreased...

Polling shows the public expect a recession within the next 2 years GMB, Britain’s general union, has called on the Government to 'get it's act together' as ONS figures released this morning showed GDP struggling at just 0.1% growth in the first quarter of 2018. Recent polling by Survation on behalf of GMB shows more than half of those questioned expect the UK to slip into recession within the next two years. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said: “The truth...

Today’s scandalous figures are more proof Theresa May’s Government has completely and utterly failed to tackle insecure work GMB union has criticised the Government after new figures released today showed the number of zero hours contracts creeping up to 2 million. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning show the number of zero hours contracts estimated to be in circulation in the economy rose to 1.8 million in November 2017 - up from 1.7 million a year...

The shocking findings, from a survey of 2,000 UK adults, revealed 43 per cent are short of the cash they need to pay the bills an average of seven months each year.

Shipyards in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea and Spain now eyeing up critical defence contract, GMB investigation reveals GMB, the union for shipbuilding workers, today said in the aftermath of the blue passports fiasco, Ministers must reverse their decision to put a crucial £1 billion order for three new military support ships out to non-UK bidders. New Fleet Solid Support ships are needed to service the UK’s £6.3 billion Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and their strikeforce of new...

  Britain’s biggest car manufacturer, employing 40,000 people in the UK is set to lose 1,000 temporary contracts. The job losses according to reports are due to cuts in production at Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull and Castle Bromwich plants in the Midlands, where Range Rovers and the Land Rover Discovery SUV are built. The jobs of 1,000 agency workers will be hit. The carmaker now owned by Indian Tata Motors is set to make an announcement to staff on Monday...

Despite the atmosphere of fear created in the Brexit debate: European workers in general do NOT take British jobs. They do NOT drive down wages or undercut minimum wages. They are less inclined to come to the UK in the current climate. Our economy is set to suffer if fewer arrive to work here. This could also lead to shrinking populations in some regions of the UK. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) interim report into the effects of Brexit on...

Former Greece finance minister Yanis Varoufakis used the madness and conflict of Shakespeare's characters to demonstrate how we can humanise economics in a powerful speech delivered at the Rose Theatre. The leading economist highlighted the seminal influence Shakespeare has had on his thinking as he took centre stage following an invitation from Kingston University. A committed Europeanist but outspoken critic of the European Union, Varoufakis explored how the complexities and contradictions of the Bard's characters have shaped his own take on...

Many people will see this as a strange statement, from an ardent Brexiteer and one of the more prominent leave voices during the referendum campaign, but Liam Fox wants the EU’s help to fight tariffs from the US. Mr Fox wants to EU to help the UK out over the 25% import tax on steel and 10 % on aluminium introduced by the Trump administration. Trump's move has raised concerns that the US is planning a widespread trade war, which...