Monthly Archives: September 2014

This is no ordinary recovery. Not only has it taken a hell of a long time to do not very much, it’s seen collapsing productivity and very little wage growth, even for those who appear to be highly skilled. As a result of all this, even … Continue reading →

“Labour economics used to be easy,” lamented David Blanchflower in Monday’s Independent. He continued: All you had to do was watch the unemployment rate and that told you most of everything. As it went up things were bad and pay weakened. … Continue reading →

Two reports on the public finances were published at the weekend. These things usually come out during the week but both the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Resolution Foundation had to squeeze their press releases into the couple of days after … Continue reading →

One night, far out at sea, a young pirate is talking to the pirate captain. “Cap’n,” he says, “‘Ow comes is it you’s got an ‘ook for an ‘and?” “Ha ha harrr. ‘Twas like this. We was just leavin’ Port Royal when … Continue reading →

A few thoughts on the referendum result. 1. I’m pleased about the result. We’ve saved ourselves a lot of pain. 2. When people think there is a likelihood of real change, they will come out and vote, even if only … Continue reading →

The rest of the world thinks we are mad, as well they might. Viewed from outside the UK, the minor differences which separate the Scots from the rest of us don’t look like that big a deal. Why would you want … Continue reading →

More on the OBR’s Crisis and consolidation in the public finances report. (See yesterday’s post.) Chapter 6 contains lots of information and commentary on the government’s proposed deficit reduction strategy. The OBR’s charts neatly sum up a lot of what I’ve been trying to say about … Continue reading →

It was Mark Radcliffe (I think) who said of the Sex Pistols famous gig at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall, if everybody who says they were there really was there, they’d have had to hold it at Maine Road. People … Continue reading →

Suddenly, London has woken up to the prospect of a Yes vote in the Scottish referendum. Its two centres, the City and Westminster, are both in a panic. Even opinion poll guru Anthony Wells, who, until last week, was convinced the … Continue reading →

The more data we crunch about the self-employed, the more complex the picture becomes. Ben Dellot has compared the earnings and assets of the self-employed. He found that households totally reliant on self-employment earnings are far more likely to have below average … Continue reading →