The trivialisation of fiscal policy
John Weeks
August 22, 2018
This week, the government and press celebrate a ‘record budget surplus’ – revealing a dire misunderstanding of the aims and workings of fiscal policy.
Archive
Month: August 2018
Council Members
- Patrick Allen
- Ann Pettifor
- Johnna Montgomerie
- Stephany Griffith-Jones
- Robert Skidelsky
- Josh Ryan-Collins
- Stewart Lansley
- Danny Dorling
- Simon Wren-Lewis
- Kate Pickett
- Jan Toporowski
- Ha-Joon Chang
- Sue Konzelmann
- Guy Standing
- Susan Himmelweit
- Geoff Tily
- Natalya Naqvi
- Carolina Alves
- Will Hutton
- Faiza Shaheen
- Daniela Gabor
- Michael Jacobs
Secretariat
Guest Authors
- John Weeks
- Adam Peggs
- Matthew D. Rose
- David Graeber
- Andrew Percy
- PEF
- Admin
- Jeremy Smith
- Farwa Sial
- Engelbert Stockhammer
- José Antonio Ocampo
- Miatta Fahnbulleh
- Richard Wilkinson
- Rob Calvert Jump
- Ed Miliband
- Brett Christophers
- Peter Rice
- Martin Sandbu
- Lucie Russell
- Marc Fovargue-Davies
- Simone Gasperin
- Imogen Richmond-Bishop
- Mohsen Javdani
- PEF Admin
- Jo Michell
- Victoria Chick
- Michael Davies
- Richard Murphy
- Austerity
- Brexit
- Budget
- Climate change
- covid
- Covid 19
- Deficit
- Economic activity
- Economic history and thought
- Economics journalism
- Europe
- Finance and financialisation
- Fiscal policy
- Government Debt
- Housing and land
- Inequality
- Investment and industrial strategy
- Local government
- Methodology
- Monetary policy
- Ownership
- Power and politics
- Privatisation and outsourcing
- Public services
- Social security
- Statistics
- Tax
- Technology
- Trade
- vaccine
- Wealth
- Work and pay
The trivialisation of monetary policy
John Weeks
August 20, 2018
“The periodic interest rate announcements so avidly reported by the media obscure and may even undermine the serious work that the Bank of England should be doing.”
Falls in under-50s employment, hours worked and real wages: what does this mean?
John Weeks
August 15, 2018
The Financial Times reported positively on August’s employment statistics – but a deeper look into the data reveals some strange trends.
Underemployment, underinvestment and power: why wage growth has slowed
Michael Davies
August 14, 2018
Despite record rates of unemployment, wage growth has slowed and underemployment remains high – workers are ultimately bearing the cost of labour market power imbalances and underinvestment.
Latest GDP figures: the PEF Council reacts
John Weeks
August 10, 2018
Today the ONS released its first estimates of GDP growth in April-June 2018. Here, the PEF Council react to the figures and tell us what they mean for the UK economy.
New research on austerity and Brexit, old neoliberal tricks
Michael Davies
August 8, 2018
Engagement with the deeper reasons for Brexit is a necessary demonstration of respect for the electorate, absent from much of the pro-Brexit lobby. The attempt to undermine these efforts on grounds of being ‘patronising’ is a classic neoliberal tactic, with origins in (neoclassical) economics.
What is wrong about the Bank of England’s decision today?
Ann Pettifor
August 2, 2018
The problem with leaving all policy-making to technocrats at the central bank is that the MPC has very few tools with which to address Britain’s economic malaise. It has only the rate of interest rate as a tool with which to influence rates across the spectrum, and the exchange rate.
ONS Wealth and Assets Survey: Young people, North East fare badly
Michael Davies
August 1, 2018
PEF economist Michael Davies warns against false optimism off the back of the latest ONS Wealth and Assets Survey results, and highlights the particular challenges faced by young people and the North East.
