Haldane is right – the Chancellor’s doom-mongering is dangerous
The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, often mentions her experience as an economist at the Bank of England. But she has been taken to task by no less a figure than the former chief economist of the Bank, Andy Haldane. Haldane notes that “just after the election, there was a sense of refresh, a sense of renewal, a […]
Interest rates aren’t as influential as you think
Criticising the Bank of England has become fashionable in City circles. From persisting too long with quantitative easing, to completely missing the upsurge in inflation to the condescending group think displayed on the validity of its discredited New Keynesian models, the Bank under Andrew Bailey has done plenty to make itself fair game. But when […]
As Johnson squirms, his party must remember the roots of Conservatives values
Boris Johnson’s government now has a penchant for embracing policies which, to many, have a distinctively non-conservative feel. High taxes, a big state. What’s next? An old idea which is currently being given new legs is that of a universal basic income (UBI). The basic concept is that all citizens of a country receive from […]
Time for the Treasury to get with the programme — Britain can afford to spend
In the days of the old Soviet Union, so-called Kremlinologists would pore over every utterance of the Politburo, every sentence in Pravda, to try to work out what was really going on. Sajid Javid’s defenestration from the Treasury has led to an upsurge in similar types of intellectual effort here. What was it really all […]
What Dirty Harry tells us about economic forecasters’ Michael Fish moment
Economic forecasters are in the dock. Last week, none other than the chief economist of the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, was confessing the crimes of the profession. The failure to predict the financial crisis was, Haldane said, economic forecasting’s “Michael Fish” moment. Thirty years ago, the BBC weatherman predicted that the UK would avoid […]
There’s a smart case for diversity – but it’s not the one you think.
Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England, hit the headlines last week with his confession that even he could not understand much of the material which pension providers give to customers. Less noticed, however, was a speech he gave the previous week at a dinner organised in aid of Children in Need on […]
Could Ernie replace Andy? The Bank’s take on automation
The Chief Economist of the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, has been in the news with his predictions that up to 15 million jobs in the UK are at risk of being lost to automation. This is a huge number, around half the total number of people in work today. Haldane injected a note of […]
Will the internet lower long-term growth – or do we need to embrace change?
Are we doomed to secular stagnation, to permanently lower rates of economic growth? The debate was sparked off nearly a decade before the financial crisis by the top US economist Robert J Gordon. He took a pessimistic view of the impact of the new wave of technology on productivity and economic growth. The latest contribution […]
