Whilst Ed Balls stuck stubbornly to accepting that the economy was now growing rather than “flatlining“, with his disastrous conclusion that you couldn’t fund spending by borrowing in the up-swing, Ed Miliband was absolutely right last year to focus on the cost of living. “The first and last test of economic policy is whether living standards for […]
Posts under ‘Prices/Inflation’
Things Labour needs to do to beat UKIP #2: raise pay and cap the cost of living
Oct 19th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.
‘Secular stagnation’ is the outcome of deliberate policy — it can (still) be reversed
Oct 16th, 2014 by Ann Pettifor.Martin Wolf in the FT today strikes a different direction from those secular stagnaters shepherded by Larry Summers towards the cliff-edge of endless doom. Larry Summers devised and popularised the term, “secular stagnation”. He has a lot to answer for. His misjudgements, poor advice to the Obama administration, and flawed analysis have been catastrophic for the global […]
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Consumer inflation may be low, but asset inflation is high and real wages keep falling
Oct 15th, 2014 by Jeremy Smith.The latest UK annual CPI inflation statistics, for August 2014, were published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics. They show annual inflation down to 1.2%. The last time the annual rate was below this was in September 2009, in the depth of the recession, when it fell to 1.1%. Assuming that the present lower CPI […]
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Labour’s cost of living contract
May 7th, 2014 by Grahame Morris.In less than three weeks voters will go to the polls with the UK still in the midsts of a cost of living crisis for ordinary people up and down the country. After plunging the UK into a double dip recession, recent growth figures have left David Cameron denying a cost of living crisis exists. […]
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Gideon’s promise of a Goldilocks recovery is pure fantasy
Apr 15th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.George Osborne preened himself – yet again – at the IMF conference 2 days ago that the Western economies are now set for a prosperous future, even as central banks steadily withdraw the lifeline that kept them afloat after the 2008 crash. Apparently normality is returning after the unfortunate blip five to six years ago. […]
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Today’s Budget and the crisis in Ukraine
Mar 19th, 2014 by Ann Pettifor.This year’s Budget takes place at a time of high international tension. The issue of energy security has once again shot to the top of the political agenda. The crisis in Ukraine demonstrates once again the extent to which Britain is exposed to political and economic risks beyond our control. The fact is Britain’s dependency […]
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We need a banking system that helps small businesses, not hinders them
Jan 20th, 2014 by Grahame Morris.People in East Durham are facing the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. Prices are soaring, wages are falling, working people are £1,600 per year worse off and small businesses are struggling to access the finance they need to grow. Yet David Cameron continues to demonstrate how out of touch he is with the […]
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Roll back the State? No – We must roll back Austerity
Nov 5th, 2013 by Katy Clark.The Chancellor of the Exchequer was recently heralding a 0.8 per cent increase in gross domestic product as a recovery. Growth of any amount should not be attacked in the context of the longest recession since the Victorian era. However growth of this level is pitiful, and no sign that the government’s policies are working or that […]
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Delivering an energy market people can trust
Oct 19th, 2013 by Grahame Morris.A key factor in the cost of living crisis, one of the biggest problems families and businesses face right now, is rising energy bills. This week we’ve seen a staggering 9 per cent price rise for some hard pressed consumers, with further price rises planned in coming weeks. While Ed Miliband has announced plans to […]
