UK Economics Focus Higher tax-take weighs down on households The slowdown in household income growth that has driven a large part of the recent spending downturn has come as something of a surprise. Particularly puzzling is the 12% or so rise in the amount of... 23rd November 2005 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Higher tax-take weighs down on households The slowdown in household income growth that has driven a large part of the recent spending downturn has come as something of a surprise. Particularly puzzling is the 12% or so rise in the amount of... 23rd November 2005 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus UK Economics Special - Getting the books back in order: Recent years have seen a major deterioration in the UK’s fiscal position, with the sizeable budget surpluses of three or four years ago replaced by hefty deficits. At a time when large parts of the... 23rd May 2005 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Focus EU Stability and Growth Pact – An Obituary The changes agreed this week clearly water down the EU stability and growth pact (SGP) and allow far greater scope for countries to run budget deficits above the 3% limit. Thus it may seem odd that... 24th March 2005 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Budget 2005: Tight, but not quite as tight as it looks For a pre-election Budget, this was a pretty restrained affair. Indeed, the tax and spending measures add up to a small fiscal tightening of £265m in 2005-06, a far cry from the giveaway of up to £5bn... 16th March 2005 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Is there a hidden fiscal crisis? Recent discussion on the public finances has focused on the very narrow question of whether the Chancellor is likely to meet his fiscal rules and whether taxes are likely to rise after the general... 9th March 2005 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Budget 2005 Preview Gordon Brown presents his ninth Budget on Wednesday 16th March against a pretty favourable economic backdrop. As he will no doubt remind us, his prediction a year ago that the economy would grow by at... 2nd March 2005 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Budget 2005 Preview Gordon Brown presents his ninth Budget on Wednesday 16th March against a pretty favourable economic backdrop. As he will no doubt remind us, his prediction a year ago that the economy would grow by at... 2nd March 2005 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Pre-Budget Report 2004 Gordon Brown did his best to play Santa to parents and children in the Pre-Budget Report, but the poor state of the public finances meant that his Christmas sack was virtually empty. The childcare... 2nd December 2004 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Pre-Budget Report 2004 - Preview Gordon Brown will present the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) on Thursday 1st December against a mixed economic backdrop. The good news is that his optimism towards the economy this year has been justified by... 26th November 2004 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Budget 2004: The great growth gamble goes on Dull though this Budget was, the big surprise was that the Chancellor chose not to raise money but rather to give it away. Admittedly, the amounts are tiny – some £700m, making a net giveaway since... 17th March 2004 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Budget 2004 Preview Gordon Brown presents his 8th Budget next Wednesday against a significantly stronger economic backdrop than that of a year ago. Thanks to the recovery in the global economy and some favourable... 9th March 2004 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Pre-Budget Report 2003 As usual, the Pre-Budget Report contained little in the way of major fiscal measures. Of more interest were the new economic and fiscal forecasts, which revealed much higher public borrowing than was... 10th December 2003 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Pre-Budget Report 2003 - Preview Gordon Brown will present his seventh Pre-Budget Report (PBR) on December 10th against a now familiar background of rapidly escalating public borrowing. We expect him to push his forecast for Public... 3rd December 2003 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Fiscal clouds still gathering Recent months have seen renewed concerns over the outlook for the public finances, prompted both by the latest fiscal numbers themselves and worries over the future performance of the economy... 18th August 2003 · 1 min read
