In recent years, we’ve grown accustomed to seeing the UK budget deficit beat expectations each month. Indeed, as recently as January, there was actually a surplus (ie: the level of tax revenue received by the Exchequer exceeded the total spent by the Government on everyday costs such as welfare and public services) – the largest on record for the month of January.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis back in 2008/09, the Bank of England (BoE) had considerable headroom in terms of monetary policy, and - rightly - it made full use of it.
On a daily basis, diligent readers of financial publications consume a wide range of economic data, which act as key performance indicators regarding the state of the UK economy.
As the adage goes, every 5-7 years, people forget that a recession happens every 5-7 years.
You often hear the phrase ‘the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer’ within political and economic discourse, and the UK in particular gets singled out for high levels of inequality.
It’s fair to say that last week was a turbulent one for global stock markets. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a Financial Stability Report on Wednesday at its annual meeting in Indonesia, and the paper struck a less-than-optimistic tone.
A couple of weeks ago, industry regulator Ofgem introduced a new cap on energy prices.
The decision to raise Bank of England (BoE) rates at the start of August was ostensibly one that would bring relief to hard-pressed savers.
It is scarcely believable that precisely a decade has passed since the once-mighty Lehman Brothers collapsed. Time certainly does fly.
Market sentiment towards the recent struggles of the UK high street has been unequivocally negative, which in turn has left many people wondering if this is an indicator that hard times lie ahead for the wider economy.
These days, it feels like there are only three certainties in life. Death. Taxes. And falling unemployment in the UK.
