Kate Andrews is deputy editor of The Spectator’s World edition.
15 min listen
The Chancellor ended today’s press briefing with the words: ‘Our economic plan and the plan for charities we announced today are built on one simple idea: that we depend on each other.’ On the podcast, James explains why he thinks coronavirus is the dawn of a new kind of Conservatism.
Assumptions made about the UK’s Covid-19 support packages are starting to unravel. When the Chancellor announced unprecedented spending to tackle the virus, he aimed to keep people in their jobs and mitigate an inevitable economic crash. But unemployment is soaring and the economy is contracting at a rapid pace, with growth figures set to plummet further than
We have seen crashes before, recessions and depressions, but nothing like this. Our fear of coronavirus has hindered and halted every aspect of daily life. We look out of our windows and barely recognise the country we’re in: police film dog-walkers and pour black dye into lagoons to deter swimmers. We wait in queues for
40 min listen
On the podcast this week, we take a look at the exceptional nature of ‘coronomics’ and what comes after (00:55), how the Swedish are dealing with coronavirus differently (18:50), and lessons in solitude from a polar explorer (31:15).
In Britain and America, the employment news is grim. Nearly a million Brits – 850,000 more than usual – have applied for Universal Credit in the last fortnight. While in the United States, unemployment has reached an historic high. As of the end of last week, 6.6 million people claimed for out-of-work benefits. This is the highest increase in adjusted seasonal claims
The Chancellor’s emergency package for the self-employed is one of the most generous schemes to be offered worldwide so far, covering up to 95 per cent of the UK’s self-employed workforce. The details of the scheme, explained here, include a taxable grant worth up to 80 per cent of one’s profits over the past three years, capped at £2,500pm
14 min listen
No one has modelled an economic lockdown before: no one knows what to expect. But the daily data is shocking, and points to a huge economic effect. In Britain, nearly 500,000 people applied for welfare (Universal Credit) over the last nine days. In America, the number of people applying for unemployment benefits surged to an
What does the coronavirus crisis mean for unemployment in the UK and Europe? A study out today from Capital Economics offers a possible answer and if it’s bad news for Britain, its worse for those in the eurozone. Here in Britain, the huge economic consequences spurred on by the virus – which will see growth
In his third Covid bailout in just over a week, Chancellor Riski Sunak has shifted his focus from businesses to employees with an unprecedented three-month commitment to cover the bulk of pay for workers facing redundancy. He’ll cover up to 80 per cent of all salaried workers’ wages (up to £2,500 per month, around the UK’s medium income). This is
13 min listen
Britain is midway through a deep recession: of that there is no doubt. But what next? Oxford Economics has today been one of the first to offer an answer, predicting a V-shaped economic recovery (sharp economic downturn and sharp economic revival) and near-complete economic repair. It is, of course, a guess: all forecasts are. But
The new Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned that the UK is facing an ‘economy emergency’ and the worst is yet to come. Speaking to Sky News, Bailey said the UK economy needs to brace itself for a ‘very big downturn’. ‘Everything’s on the table that is reasonable,’ he said, referring to the policy
Last week’s £12 billion stimulus package to tackle the health and economic consequences of Covid-19 now seems like a drop in the ocean compared to Rishi Sunak’s announcement this evening: an astonishing £330 billion package of guarantees for business loans, up to £20 billion worth of tax cuts and grants for small and medium size
14 min listen
We’ve just seen one of the worst weeks in stock market history, with the FTSE100 ending on Friday 17 per cent down and billions of pounds wiped off British share values. This has been spurred on not by the fear of Covid-19 itself, but by the reaction to the virus: when sentiment switches from confidence to
When America used a drone to take out an Iranian general a few weeks ago, it triggered a standoff between the two countries that barely moved oil prices. America was seen to have passed the first test of what Donald Trump hailed as ‘energy independence’. The US oil industry has surged over the past five
36 min listen
This week kicked off with an incredible fall in oil prices globally, so what on earth happened (00:50)? We also talk about the Budget, where Rishi Sunak set out in more detail how the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda will look (10:20). Finally, should we be doing more science research for curiosity’s sake (23:05)?
The Treasury thinks it has a new friend: the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). During the delivery of his first Budget this afternoon, Chancellor Rishi Sunak referenced the economic forecaster multiple times, relying on its assessment of the Budget as proof that the ‘largest giveaway since 1992’ is still fiscally responsible. The OBR has ‘made
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a great idea — in theory. Why not set aside a moment each year to highlight both the historical and present-day circumstances that impact women’s lives? If used properly, it could do some good. But the problem with international-anything-day is that the plights and progress of historically disenfranchised people vary
