Michael Simmons

The waves from Donald Trump’s tariff upheaval continue to ripple through the global economy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its forecasts for global growth to 2.8 per cent for this year and 3 per cent for 2026, down from previous estimates of 3.3 per cent for each year. The UK isn’t immune: the

Price rises have unexpectedly eased. The Consumer Price Index rose by just 2.6 per cent in March, down from 2.8 per cent the month before and slightly lower than analysts’ expectations of 2.7 per cent. The figures, just published by the Office for National Statistics, show that the slowdown was driven by falling fuel costs and flat

Much to the concern of the Bank of England, British workers are continuing to bank inflation-busting pay rises. Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that over the three months to February, the average worker received a pay increase of 5.6 per cent. Remove inflation and that works out as a 2.8 per

China has retaliated against Donald Trump by raising duties on all American imports to 125 per cent from 84 per cent, declaring that it has no interest in responding further to what it calls a ‘joke’ policy. The higher rate will come into force from tomorrow. The announcement comes after the White House’s clarification that

This afternoon, Keir Starmer recommitted to not raising income tax, VAT or employee National Insurance for the duration of this parliament. At the same time, he reiterated his support for Rachel Reeves’s ‘ironclad’ fiscal rules. Are both possible? Answering a question from GB News’s Chris Hope at a visit to the Jaguar Land Rover factory

This week, Donald Trump steered the global economy away from the free trade era that has underpinned growth for decades. Within hours of his announcement of tariffs on what looked like a bookmakers board from Aintree, China had responded with its own: a 34 per cent tax on all US imports starting next Thursday. The

Across the world, markets are plunging as they respond to the global tariffs Donald Trump unleashed from the White House rose garden last night – with the president’s top economist describing the falls as ‘short-term bumps’. The pound passed $1.30 for the first time in six months while stocks in Tokyo fell 4 per cent.

In just a few hours, Donald Trump is set to take his tariff war global. At 9 p.m. UK time (4 p.m. in Washington), the American President will unveil a sweeping set of trade tariffs, on what he’s dubbed ‘Liberation Day’. What exactly Trump plans to announce remains unclear, but reports suggest everything from global

Britain’s economic outlook may have been skewed by bad data – and it could be costing billions. Wage data pored over by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is set to be revised in the coming weeks – and the implications could be serious. The nine economists who decide the country’s interest rates

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just confirmed that the economy ‘grew’ by 0.1 per cent in the last three months of 2024. Its final estimate for the last quarter of last year confirms that Britain’s economy continues to float just above recession territory. The very modest growth in the final quarter was driven

Tax rises are almost certainly coming, Britain’s leading fiscal think tank has said. Those taxes are most likely to fall on pensioners and the wealthy, according to Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). ‘There is a good chance that economic and fiscal forecasts will deteriorate significantly between now and an autumn Budget.

There is perhaps no document more useful for understanding the state of the nation than the Office for Budget Responsibility’s ‘Economic and Fiscal Outlook’. The 180-page document, released as soon as the Chancellor sits down after a Budget or financial statement, can not only seal the fate of a government but also tell us where