To what extent can the government help boost domestic industry and manufacturing? In recent weeks, several politicians have talked about their desire to help UK manufacturing and boost industrial production. It may be a noble endeavour to try and boost UK industry and rebalance the economy away from financial services to manufacturing. But, how practical …
Readers Question: I wanted to ask if it is necessary to include some facts, figures or information about what is really going on in the world. I am not really sure about it. I’ve seen my friends include details like the National Income figure of some countries or mention recession and what is really going …
Readers Question Why did bond yields in the USA rise at news of the Fed Tapering back in August? The Federal Reserve has been engaged in a policy of quantitative easing. This involves: Creating money electronically Using this created money to buy assets, such as government bonds. The aim of quantitative easing is to stimulate economic …
The UK housing market always provides something to write about. Just when you thought house prices were already too expensive. It looks like the government’s second phase of ‘right to buy’ could push up prices even more. The scheme allows buyers to purchase a property under £600,000 with just a 5% deposit. The government have …
Readers Question: I am currently researching the impact of the global economy on inflation in the UK. I have come across economic policy uncertainty but am unsure what effect policy uncertainty in the EU and USA will have on the UK. UK inflation is primarily due to domestic factors. For example, if you look at …
When interest rates were cut to 0.5% in March 2009, few would have expected them to remain at 0.5 until the present time. Yet, we have seen an unprecedented period of zero interest rates. There is much speculation about: When interest rates will rise? How much will interest rates to increase to? What will be …
Home repossession – when banks take homes back into their own ownership, Mortgage arrears – when mortgage holders fall behind in their mortgage payments, but not necessarily leading to repossession For 2013, the Council of mortgage lenders anticipate a total of 35,000 repossessions. In Q1 2013, the rate of repossession is running at 0.07% or …
Economists generally agree that a high inflation rate has various economic costs and therefore, we should use economic policy to keep inflation low. Since the mid 1980s, governments have increasingly set strict inflation targets, e.g. ECB inflation of less than 2%. The Bank of England targeting inflation of 2% +/-1. However, some economists argue that …