UK Economics Weekly Fall in confidence not enough to rule out aggressive rate hikes Signs that business confidence has started to ease may provide the Monetary Policy Committee with some reassurance that firms' pricing power will soon soften. But the danger that bigger increases in... 1st July 2022 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Too soon to conclude inflation won’t become more persistent It’s too soon to conclude that the weak tone of this week’s news on activity means that inflation won’t become more persistent. Our proprietary measure of underlying/persistent CPI inflation rose to a... 24th June 2022 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Why didn’t the BoE go further and what next? In some ways, given its concerns about the weakening in the real economy, the Bank of England's decision not to follow the Fed and raise rates by more than 25 basis points makes sense. But with more... 17th June 2022 · 8 mins read
UK Economics Boris using the economy to fight back, BoE to hike by 50bps By deploying economic policies and Brexit battles in the fight for his political life, Boris Johnson is inadvertently asking the Bank of England to work harder to quash inflation. As it happens, we... 10th June 2022 · 9 mins read
UK Economics Risks to consumer spending forecast tilted to the downside April's money and credit data provide another reason to think that the consumer slowdown in April wasn't too severe. But it may take time for the cost of living squeeze to fully filter through into... 1st June 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics What the Chancellor gives, the BoE will have to take away The new fiscal stimulus announced by the Chancellor this week puts more pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates into restrictive territory. As result of this and other recent... 27th May 2022 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Inflation to rise further and linger longer than in the US and EZ Not only did the surge in CPI inflation to 9.0% in April leave inflation in the UK above the rates in both the US and the euro-zone, but inflation in the UK will probably rise further and stay higher... 20th May 2022 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Will the MPC still raise interest rates if there’s a recession? It looks as though the economy is halfway towards a recession. Although the Monetary Policy Committee has never raised interest rates during a recession before (the last time it happened was in 1975)... 13th May 2022 · 7 mins read
UK Economics Weakening economy won’t do the MPC’s job The Bank of England’s prediction that the economy is on the brink of recession grabbed the headlines this week, but we suspect its GDP forecast will prove too downbeat. That’s not to say the risk of... 6th May 2022 · 7 mins read
UK Economics Our new forecasts, pound risks adding to price pressures Even though we think the pound will continue to weaken against the US dollar, from $1.26 now to around $1.22 by the end of the year, that’s unlikely to significantly boost CPI inflation as we think it... 29th April 2022 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Weak economy won’t prevent further bond market sell-off The downbeat news on the UK economy this week did not stop the 10-year gilt yield rising further to its highest level since November 2015. And with CPI inflation set to climb further, perhaps to a... 22nd April 2022 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Weekly No respite for Sunak as Stagflation bites For an embattled Chancellor, the news from the economy is likely to get worse before it gets better. But despite the worrying signs for economic activity over the coming months, with CPI inflation now... 14th April 2022 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Upside risks to inflation continue to build We are growing more concerned about the upside risk to our inflation forecast in the coming months. That’s partly because pipeline price pressures have already risen by a bit more than we had... 8th April 2022 · 9 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Real income hit and recession risk There are two reasons why we are not expecting the fall in real incomes triggered by the rise in a host of prices and taxes from today to lead to a recession. First, further rises in employment and... 1st April 2022 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Shift towards higher taxes and spending is here to stay Far from reducing the tax burden, the Chancellor is set to preside over the biggest tax share of GDP since 1949 under Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government. So if Rishi Sunak wants to be... 25th March 2022 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Should the BoE fear the “stag” more than the “flation”? The Bank of England appears to be putting more weight on the “stag” part of the stagflationary consequences of the war in Ukraine than the “flation” part. But our forecast that the labour market will... 18th March 2022 · 8 mins read
