Economics
The OECD has called for less Austerity…Will Europe Listen?
By Dean Hochlaf Since the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn, Europe has pursued a course of vigorous austerity, in a desperate attempt to reign in government spending which spiralled after a series of high profile bank bail-outs. In Britain austerity is practically synonymous with Chancellor George Osborne. In Europe, it is Wolfgang Schäuble, the indomitable German Finance Minister who best encapsulates the continents commitment to austerity policies. The fascination with austerity borders on the dogmatic. The Greek economy...
Iain Duncan Smith approves cuts to disabled people on assumption “enough will die.”
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Iain Duncan Smith is giving the green light to almost a 20 per cent cut in support for people with disabilities. Funds available for disabled people who used to access the ILF (Independent Living Fund) will be reduced by nearly a fifth over the next four years. Government ministers have said the measures are appropriate as the claimant number will fall, however campaigner Linda Burnip claims this is calculated “based on the hope enough people...
Victims of Bedroom Tax Suffer By £66 More Than DWP Predicted
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Figures that have just been released have revealed that the controversial tax is costing 442,000 poor homes £15.27 a week up from an estimated £14. A lot of money for struggling people living on the breadline. This is a total of £794 a year, £66 higher than the £728 the DWP claimed it would be in the official impact assessment from 2013/14. This is 9 per cent above the original figure. The difference on the...
Millions in Poverty Through Tory Cuts as Study Says Work Failing to Pay
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Welfare cuts have hit children the hardest as families can’t make ends meet, a study has revealed. Due to Tory spending cuts more people live below the poverty line that in 2008 at the height of the global financial meltdown. The report, by the JRF (Joseph Rowntree Foundation) found that 11.6 million people are struggling to make ends meet. Shockingly the majority of these people live in working households. The JRF study says that cuts...
Refugee Influx May provide EU Economic Boost, says IMF
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor GDP could grow in Europe due to migration through long-term boost to jobs market and greater state spending, says IMF report. It also claims that any negative effects will be short lived and won’t negatively impact on native workers in the long-term. The IMF believe the recent refugee arrivals will raise economic growth a small degree in the short-term – especially in Austria, Germany and Sweden. Also if they are integrated into the job market...
62 People Own the Same as Half of the World
New Oxfam research has revealed runaway inequality has created a world where 62 people own as much as the poorest half of the world's population. The report, published ahead of the annual gathering of the world's financial and political elites in Davos, found the wealth of the poorest half of the world's population - that's 3.6 billion people - has fallen by a trillion dollars since 2010. This drop has occurred despite the global population increasing by around 400 million people during...
Fat Cats already made more in 2016 than most will earn all year
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor As of yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 6th Jan 2016) business executives have made more money than the majority of people will make during the whole of this year according to the High Pay Centre. The research has discovered that fat cats have already passed the average UK salary of £27,645 a mere two working days into the New Year. The High Pay Centre, an independent think tank, reported that FTSE 100 chief executives receive an average...
George Osborne’s Autumn Spending Review Analysed By Someone Who’s Made The Chancellor’s Cheeks Go Red
“There’s no such thing as society”, Margaret Thatcher famously told Woman’s Own in 1987. Today Chancellor George Osborne was showing off how he is still trying his very best to make that happen, outlining his latest austerity measures to dismantle and sell off the state in the Autumn Spending Review statement. And again The London Economic turned to someone who can offer her own exclusive insight into the Conservative party leadership candidate formerly known as Gideon, his former party companion...
Starbucks or Syria: What Civilisation are we Fighting for?
By Darragh Roche Sitting in a packed Starbucks across from the Brandenburg Gate a few years ago, a Berlin-based friend pointed out the former Soviet embassy across the street, once the largest in the world. Sipping a frothy cappuccino in a café where the staff spoke English, I didn’t realise we were in the former East Berlin. The old heart of the repressive communist state is now crowded with pricey shops, American coffee chains and oblivious tourists. Starbucks, the shibboleth of...