Is a rise in self-employment disguising unemployment?
For the last few months, the headline numbers have been good, but a detailed look at the figures gives plenty of cause for concern.
Duncan Weldon
Website Duncan writes on the economy and economic policy. He is an econmist and has worked at the Bank of England, as a Partner in a fund management firm and for the Labour Party; Duncan currently works for an international trade union.
Unemployment: Headline figures camouflage underlying picture of weakness
A recovery driven by part-time work and accompanied by falling living standards won’t feel like a recovery to most people, writes Duncan Weldon.
Headline unemployment fall is good news, but underlying picture remains grim
The ‘recovery’ in the labour market over the most recent quarter has been characterised by part-time work and slowing wage growth; this is not good news.
Employment figures mask the rise in under-employment
Duncan Wheldon argues that even the mediocre employment figures released today STILL overstate the positive news
Borrowing figures make grim reading for Osborne
George Osborne’s lack of a growth strategy could easily undermine his deficit reduction plans, writes Duncan Weldon.
Matt Hancock is drawing the wrong lessons from America
Former adviser to chancellor George Osborne, Tory MP Matthew Hancock, has made a massive error in his analysis of the American economy, writes Duncan Weldon.
Fraser Nelson is wrong on the 50p tax rate
The Spectator’s Fraser Nelson is wrong on the 50p tax rate, Left Foot Forward’s Duncan Weldon reveals.
Banks let off the hook on lending
The long awaited outcome of the government’s “Project Merlin” deal with the banks has been published. Questions are already being asked about the failure of government to get tough on bonuses and the low level of transparency on pay, buttest
Clegg’s latest lie: UK was on verge of a “sovereign debt crisis”
This morning the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg repeated the now discredited claim that when the coalition formed Britain was “on the edge of bankruptcy”.
Why do the right continue to support Ireland’s disastrous economic policies?
The British right praised Irish policy before the recession, during the recession and continue to praise it now. They have been consistently wrong.