The £150 million hole in Osborne’s Virgin/Northern Rock deal
George Osborne didn’t sell Northern Rock at 80% of book value, but at 66% of book value, reports Cormac Hollingsworth.
Cormac Hollingsworth
Website Cormac writes for Left Foot Forward on the economy; he is an economic policy consultant who previously worked as an MD at a European investment bank.
No, Gideon, low gilt yields aren’t good news, and here’s why
Are low bond yields good news? Not really: Cormac Hollingsworth explains that, although they can be a representation of belief in a government’s ability to pay back debt, in this case they merely represent the dearth of alternative investment options.
Fast spending cuts push economy from fastest quarterly growth for a decade towards zero
Today’s growth figures are the latest evidence the coalition’s rapid spending cuts have pushed the UK economy from the fastest growth for a decade towards zero.
For every extra £4 spending is cut, it only cuts borrowing an extra 75p
The latest figures on growth (or lack of) are bad for the government’s deficit reduction plan; the government is terrible at cutting borrowing generally.
The coalition has flunked preparations for this banking crisis
Cormac Hollingsworth explains the coalition’s under-preparation with regards to the new global financial crisis
Just who WILL Osborne listen to?
We’re in a unique political economy, one in which there is no market discipline on the government pursuing the wrong economic policy. The sight of George Osborne starting his speech with the FTSE down 1.8% best illustrates the economists’ problem:test
No platform no pasaran; Cable Street 75
This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street; Left Foot Forward’s Cormac Holligsworth recalls the historic anti-fascist events.
Balls’s speech gives Labour a solid economic foundation
Cormac Hollingsworth reviews Ed Balls’s Labour party conference speech, and analyses what it means for Labour’s economic policy over the next four years.
Growth cut the 2010-11 deficit as fast as cuts
George Osborne’s strategy was 75% cuts and 25% taxes, but he forgot to add in growth; growth last year cut the deficit as much as cuts.
Without growth will we even halve the deficit?
The IMF downgrades to UK growth today is awful news for those who are hoping to cut the deficit, explains Left Foot Forward’s Cormac Hollingsworth.