US ambassador questions speed and scale of Osborne’s cuts
US ambassador Louis Susman has questioned the wisdom of George Osborne’s massive spending cuts, warning they risked plunging Britain into a double-dip recession.
economy
Carbon Plan shows a disappointing shortfall in policy breadth
Despite some fantastic coverage in last Sunday’s Observer, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne this week launched the Carbon Plan to very little media response, reports Eleanor Besley.
The UK’s “maxed out credit card” myth
Mark Anderson analyses the current financial situation and explains why devastating, savage Tory cuts are the last thing we need.
Manufacturing continues to hold up the economy
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today announced a 1.0 per cent increase in UK manufacturing output in January, reports Tony Dolphin.
Economic update – March 2011
Tony Dolphin looks at the key economic indicators and reviews the state of the UK economy in his latest economic update for Left Foot Forward.
UK economy’s fourth quarter contraction confirmed
George Osborne has shown a great deal of determination in his efforts to tackle the fiscal deficit; it is now time for him to show the same determination in promoting output and employment growth.
Buoyant tax revenues give Osborne room to manoeuvre
The UK’s public finances were in much better shape in January than expected. There was a current budget surplus of £8.5bn and public sector net borrowing was -£3.7bn.
Retail sales provide some economic optimism – for now
If today’s retail sales data is a true indication of the underlying trend in retail sales, then the economy is in better shape than many of the pessimists have feared.
Britain’s economy falls further behind G7
Britain is being left behind. With growth projections down, unemployment up, and consumer confidence down, the UK economy contrasts sharply with news around the world.
Time to think again about the way we measure inflation?
As was widely expected, annual inflation increased again last month; there is, however, a big question over how accurately these figures capture the extent of the price increases in different households.