UK Economics Weekly “It’s Brexit, stupid” The latest indications are that the general election that may seal the fate of Brexit is unlikely to take place until the EU has agreed to delay Brexit again and the current deadline of 31 st October... 6th September 2019 · 8 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Suspending Parliament increases chances of a no deal Brexit By restricting the window in which Parliament can prevent a no deal, the suspension of Parliament from sometime in the second week of September until 14th October has increased the downside risks to... 30th August 2019 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Weekly US-UK trade deal unlikely to get off the ground We have our doubts that a US-UK trade deal, even a “modular” one, will be easily achievable if there is a no deal Brexit. In any case, the bigger issue will still be the trading relationship between... 23rd August 2019 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Is the UK different? Whereas US yield curve inversions are close to a fool-proof predictor of US recessions, a recession in the UK has only followed inversions in the gilt yield curve on 50% of occasions. That’s not... 16th August 2019 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Recession fears rising The contraction in GDP in Q2 together with the partial inversion of the gilt yield curve has raised concerns that a recession in the UK is on the way if it’s not already here. We suspect that the UK... 9th August 2019 · 7 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Forecasting a parallel universe In our latest UK Economic Outlook, “An economic multiverse” (16th July), we set out the different paths politics could send the economy down. The MPC took a different approach this week, forecasting... 2nd August 2019 · 8 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Javid to loosen fiscal policy, economy has poor start to Q3 It came as no surprise that Boris Johnson became the UK’s new Prime Minister this week. And in his first speech in Parliament on Thursday there was no sign of him rowing back on his campaign pledges... 26th July 2019 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Weekly OBR’s no deal warning, signs of life on the high street The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) public finance forecasts in a no deal scenario published in its Fiscal Risks Report this week really do look pretty dreadful. We suspect they overdo the... 19th July 2019 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Prospect of higher interest rates drifting further away Despite the rebound in monthly GDP growth from -0.4% m/m in April to +0.3% m/m in May, the economy probably just about contracted in Q2 as a whole. Some of that is just payback from activity being... 12th July 2019 · 8 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Markets pricing in a cut – deal or no deal While the financial markets are right to expect interest rates to be cut if there is a no deal Brexit, we think they have gone too far by pricing in the possibility that rates will be reduced if a no... 5th July 2019 · 7 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Possible contraction in Q2, all roads lead to a fiscal loosening The chances of the economy escaping a quarterly contraction in Q2 seem to be receding in light of the latest surveys and official data. While a contraction in Q2 would generate many headlines, it... 28th June 2019 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Weekly MPC singing a different tune The MPC struck a markedly more dovish tone in the statement and minutes of June’s meeting compared to May’s. This was partly due to a weakening global and domestic outlook, but the rising chances of a... 21st June 2019 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Economy off to a bad start in Q2, Johnson takes the lead Even if some of the weakness in activity in April comes back in May, GDP growth will still struggle to hit the Bank of England’s Q2 forecast of 0.2%. As such, we doubt that they will raise rates at... 14th June 2019 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Theresa May’s economic legacy Economic growth was virtually the same in Q1 2019 as it was in Q2 2016 when Theresa May came to power. However, the UK has still underperformed the G7 average. And given that it looks increasingly... 7th June 2019 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Economy struggles to maintain its pace, race for No. 10 The economic news for Q2 so far has been pretty poor. And we wouldn’t be too surprised if Q1’s expansion is the fastest rate of growth that the economy can muster for some time. Meanwhile, the ever... 31st May 2019 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Prime Minister May falls, CPI inflation rises The announcement by the Prime Minister that she will resign appears to have generated even more political uncertainty for the Bank of England to deal with. The Bank will be thankful, then, that... 24th May 2019 · 1 min read
