Financial Times (February 7)
The Bank of England (BoE) “has halved its 2025 growth estimate and cut interest rates… as it contends with a stagnant UK economy and an increasingly uncertain international environment.” In November, the BoE expected annual economic growth of 1.5%. Now it expects growth of just 0.75%, with higher unemployment and rising inflation. The new forecasts “will stoke fears of stagflation” and the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to cut benchmark rates from 4.75% to 4.5%.
Tags: 2025, Benchmark, BOE, Economic growth, Environment, Forecasts, Halved, Inflation, Interest rates, MPC, Stagflation, Stagnant, UK, Uncertain, Unemployment
New York Times (May 21)
“The euro hasn’t fallen below the one-to-one exchange rate with the U.S. dollar for two decades. But as economic risks grow, more analysts predict deeper lows for the shared currency.” The U.S. currency is considered one of the safest havens “for money as the risk of stagflation — an unhealthy mix of stagnant economic growth and rapid inflation — stalks the globe.”
Tags: Analysts, Currency, Dollar, Economic risks, euro, Exchange rate, Growth, Havens, Money, Stagflation, Stagnant, U.S., Unhealthy
Financial Times (June 13)
“We live in an age judged to be one of exciting technological change, but our national accounts tell us that productivity is almost stagnant. Is the slowdown or the innovation an illusion?” The truth is we don’t yet know and it might be something else. There might be a measurement error or a lag before big gains from AI and other revolutionary technologies kick in.
Tags: Change, Illusion, Innovation, Lag AI, Measurement, Productivity, Revolutionary, Slowdown, Stagnant, Technologies
