Economics newsletter
Why so many young people don’t have a job
Why are so many young adults not in education, employment or training? The latest statistics show that almost one million 16 to 24-year-olds are unemployed, or ‘Neet’, to use the inappropriately cheery-sounding acronym. Fractionally down on the previous quarter, this is still close to a ten-year high. The number of Neets has been consistently above
Are refugees really worth £266,000 each to the UK economy?
Refugees could contribute £266,000 each to the UK economy: that’s the claim made by the Together with Refugees coalition and the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union in a report that says ‘fair and humane changes to the asylum system’ could benefit Britain. Unfortunately, something isn’t quite adding up. Spectator Verify has investigated, and we’ve
An independent Bank of England isn’t working
Andrew Bailey recently claimed that the Bank of England has saved the government £125 billion. The Bank’s governor was responding to criticism from Reform deputy leader Richard Tice that the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street has cost taxpayers a fortune. Just weeks earlier, Reform leader Nigel Farage questioned the very idea of central bank independence, suggesting he
Reeves set to break manifesto pledge – and hike income tax
Rachel Reeves billed her £38 billion in tax increases last year – the biggest tax-rising Budget since Black Wednesday – as a ‘one and done’ approach. As she prepares to deliver her second Budget in three weeks’ time, the Chancellor is set for a ‘rinse and repeat’ strategy, as she tries to wring similar sums from
The Bank of England blames Rachel Reeves for pushing up prices
The Bank of England has held interest rates at four per cent. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted five to four in favour of maintaining the rate. There had been some speculation that the Bank might consider a cut to pre-empt some of the harshest measures expected in this month’s Budget, but the rate-setting committee
The ‘John Lewis approach’ won’t fix workshy Britain
Like the John Lewis Partnership he used to run, Sir Charlie Mayfield, who has just completed the government’s ‘Keep Britain Working’ review, comes across as terribly nice and civilised. It’s just a shame he can’t quite bring himself to put the boot in and deal properly with the problem of mass worklessness he correctly identifies.
Could private credit cause the next financial crash?
The recent bankruptcies of a little-known auto-parts supplier called First Brands and auto lender Tricolorhas sparked talk about a looming financial crisis in a booming but much misunderstoodcorner of finance. Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan, sent shivers through financial markets earlier this month when he referred to these bankruptcies as a ‘cockroach’ and warned: ‘When you
Britain’s stingy state pension is good news
That Britain has the least generous state pension in the G7 should be recognised for what it is: good news. The fact that it won’t be celebrated tells us a lot about the mismatch between policy and politics around pensions in the UK. The nature of Britain’s state pension isn’t an accident or a failure.
What does Rachel Reeves really mean that we must all ‘do our bit’?
It is three weeks until the Budget – and Rachel Reeves wants to get her narrative out there. The Chancellor held an early morning press conference today to, in her words, ‘set out the circumstances and the principles’ guiding her thinking on 26 November. One line in particular stood out: ‘If we are to build
Budget tax rises will mark the beginning of the long end for Labour
So just what was the point in dragging political journalists out of bed to be addressed by Rachel Reeves in Downing Street this morning? We could – and should – have had the Budget by now. Instead, we got a half Budget speech – a desperate attempt to blame the Tories, a vague suggestion that taxes are