Economics

Train companies have announced largest ticket increase for five years, signalling a depressing start to the new year for struggling commuters. Fares for all journeys in 2018 show an average rise slightly below the 3.6% set by the government in August for regulated fares, which include season tickets. Rail operators said it showed the industry was attempting to keep down the cost of travel. It is unlikely that many passengers, dealing with the creaking rail service, will agree with their...

Here is an obscene fact for you: Bitcoin uses more electricity than 159 of the planet's countries. The cryptocurrency worth under $1 in 2011 hit a new record this week, making headlines as it soared above $11,000 on Wednesday morning, after which its value has been going up and down like a rollercoaster.   But the other record that Bitcoin is breaking is as the world's most obscenely energy-guzzling currency. Bitcoin is the world's first payment network that's completely decentralized,...

Shocking new analysis by the Resolution Foundation has revealed pay in real terms won’t be back to 2007 level until 2025. According to the research average annual pay peaked in the autumn of 2007 at £31,644 (in 2016 prices). Once inflation is taken into account, average pay will not be back at those levels until the start of 2025 - some 17 years since the financial crash struck. The Resolution Foundation's report, Freshly Squeezed, warns that Britain is on course for the...

The chancellor has announced stamp duty will be scrapped for first time buyers on homes up to £300,000 and up to £500,000 in high price areas. The move will affect roughly 80 per cent of first time buyers, and will come as a huge relief for people who are struggling to get on to the property ladder. Philip Hammond was under pressure to deliver a game-changing Budget today, and after a string of concerning economic data he saved the eye-catching announcement...

A new study has revealed a fascinating inter-generational divide over trust on the economy. Despite both parties being neck-and-neck overall, the Sky Data poll found huge splits between young and old. Of 18 to 34-year-olds, 62 per cent want Labour in charge of the nation's finances, versus 28 per cent for the Tories. Jeremy Corbyn's party also scrapes a narrow win among 35 to 54-year-olds, who favour it 41 per cent to the Conservatives' 39 per cent. But among those...

Philip Hammond will present the Budget next week amidst new global figures that show the UK is now bottom of the growth league among major economies in Europe and North America. The data on GDP up to Q3 2017 puts Britain significantly behind its peers, dropping below Belgium, Italy and France. The UK economy expanded by just 0.4 per cent in the third quarter of this year, new early estimates from the Office for National Statistics show, which brings the year-on-year...

Shanker Singham an acclaimed financial analyst wrote an op-ed for The Times in which he extolled the virtues of a Brexit vis-à-vis the UK’s trading possibilities with the rest of the world. The rising problems associated with regulation in the global economy are having far-reaching implications on trading activity. The Brexit referendum on June 23, 2016 did not precipitate the decline in global economic activity – it was a symptom of it. The global financial crisis of 2008/2009 was associated...

No one in Britain voted for their jobs, public and health services, employment and environmental protections to be sold down the river to the lowest bidder, says union GMB, the UK’s general union, says claims Brexit means 'taking back control' have been exposed as a myth by the Government’s new trade white paper. Liam Fox’s paper, released on the eve of the next round of Brexit talks which begin tomorrow, exposes the Conservative’s obsession with deregulation and failed neoliberal proposals...

Fears of Britain's exit from the EU is introducing a worrying investment setback as companies and investors keep stalling on investment plans so as not to be caught up in the uncertainty that continues to loom over the economy since the referendum, studies have revealed. Firms, manufacturers, and both domestic and international investors are either pulling back or pressing the pause button on already laid out investment plans. Some businesses are holding back on planning at all until the uncertainties...