Most people who work have to pay HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) National Insurance Contributions (NICs) as well as tax. Payment of NICs may entitle you to benefits, such as a state pension and jobseeker’s allowance. Some are paid at a flat rate with others, the amount payable is linked to earnings. N I C …
2010 will be a difficult year for the UK economy. After the deepest recession since the 1930s, the outlook is for a sluggish recovery. Though recovery is welcome, it still leaves the problem of spare capacity, high unemployment and record levels of peacetime government borrowing. It will be a difficult tightrope between boosting economic growth …
Readers Question: Indicate the problems which are created for the government’s finances as a result of having to help avoid an even deeper recession. In a recession, automatic fiscal stabilisers automatically cause a rise in borrowing. The UK recession hit tax revenues hard. Income tax receipts fell as top earners were made unemployed. Corporation tax …
Most western economies are facing the prospect of record peace time government debt levels. The EU Maastrict Criteria stated that the maximum budget deficit member countries could run is a budget deficit of 3% of GDP. (By the way, I am glad this target for government borrowing has not been enforced. That would have been …
Question: Why do we have a VAT rate of 17.5% on many ordinary goods and a tax rate on petrol / tobacco of over 50% – yet when people propose a tax of 0.01% on currency transactions it is denounced as unfair and economically damaging? At the G20 summit, Gordon Brown, proposed a version of …
In a recent post, UK personal debt, we looked at why UK debt had fallen for the first time since records began. Nevertheless, personal debt is still over £1.45 billion. Within this debt are many overburdened with debt from a variety of sources from personal loans to credit cards and store cards. Debt consolidation is …
T-Mobile and Orange mobile phones have stated that they intend to merge to form a new mobile phone company. The merging of brands will take over 18 months as they decide which brand to promote. Currently, the market share of the four leading mobile phone providers is O2 27% Vodafone 25% Orange 22% T-Mobile 15% …
Readers Question: discuss whether economic actions by individuals always results in net benefit to the society “Many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was not part of it. By pursuing his own …