The Economist (July 6)
“Good economic news has begun to fall on Britain like drops of rain in the midst of a drought. The country is parched: revisions to GDP estimates released last week suggest that output is still 3.9% lower than its 2008 peak, a worse performance than any other G20 country except Italy. As confidence returns, it seems almost impolite to point out that the British economy still has a sickly core of weak investment, productivity and wages, and that hard policy decisions lie ahead.”
Tags: Confidence, Economy, G20, GDP, Investment, Italy, Output, Productivity, UK, Wages
The Economist (February 23)
“With short-term interest rates still stuck near zero and their balance-sheets stuffed with government bonds, the central banks of America, Britain and Japan are experimenting with a shift in approach: coupling monetary action with commitments designed to alter the public’s expectations of interest rates, inflation and the economy…. A more doveish stance would entail tolerating higher inflation, at least temporarily, in pursuit of higher output.” But there is “a question-mark over what this wave of central-bank experimentation can achieve: since bond yields are already so low, the marginal return to coaxing them even lower may be scant. For now, though, buoyant stockmarkets are giving the activists the thumbs-up.”
Tags: Bonds, Central banks, Inflation, Interest rates, Japan, Output, Stockmarkets, U.S., UK, Yields
Financial Times (January 25)
More should be done to stimulate growth in the UK. Monetary easing is essential. “The British economy is in the doldrums. Neither sinking nor sailing, just listing. Output is now flat. For all the drama in London of the past few years – from austerity through to the Olympics – the UK remains where it was.”
Tags: Economy, Monetary easing, Olympics, Output, UK
