Archive for October, 2009

18 month recession

 Record uk recession

The latest figures show the uk recession is to continue with the news that the uk economy contracted by 0.4% between july and september. That is six consecutive quarters, or 18 months of recession, an official record uk recession.

The expectation for the last quater was for the economy to actually improve by 0.2% over the last quater, so the news of a 0.4% fall shows that the expectations were <0.6% wrong.

The worse-than-expected figures are likely to make the Bank of England consider extending its policy of quantitative easing, the figures of which are already in the £175 billion , and nearly spent. Read more...

debt rise september

£200 billion govt debt ?

Public borrowing rose by a further £14.8bn last month (september), taking the half-yearly figure to its highest ever level

September's rise means Government net borrowing stands at £77.3bn for the six months of the financial year so far.

That is the highest half-yearly figure since Office for National Statistics (ONS) records began in 1946.

The Treasury expects borrowing to reach a record £175bn for the year as the cost of the recession drains public finances.

Total spending stood at £45.7bn over the month compared with just £35.4bn in receipts.

This is because the Government is having to spend more on outlays such as unemployment benefits but is receiving less as the jobless total rises. Read more...

Uk debt clock

How much is the uk in debt

The uk debt clock is ticking away clocking up the national debt at an alarming pace.

every man woman and child in the uk owes the figure that is showing at the top of the ticking bomb. At the time of this post the figure was £13,337 uk pounds for every man woman and child in the uk

Sources of information

The debt clock is not an exact representation of government borrowing on a day-to-day basis, but it does accurately illustrate the rate at which our national debt is rising. There may be occasions where the debt clock appears to jump up or even go down. This is because it's periodically adjusted to incorporate the latest figures from the Treasury. Links to all the sources and statistics used on the uk debt clock can be found on the debt clock Sources page.

Gordon brown car boot sale

UK Recession prompts massive car boot sale

Like most families that are struggling to make ends meet, Gordon brown has initiated what has been called a massive car boot sale.

Gordon brown hopes to raise 16 billion pounds to help bail the uk economy out of the mire. The money will be raised by selling national assets such as the channel tunnel, the dartford crossing, the tote, and the student loan book.

Gordon browns announcement

Nouriel Roubini

Nouriel Roubini: Dr doom, warning

Dr Roubini, a Professor of Economics at New York University's Stern School of Business who warned of looming financial disaster in 2006, also warned that commodity markets will fall as the slow pace of recovery disappoints investors.

Many stock markets have enjoyed their best-ever half-year rises as fears of a global depression have rapidly lifted. The FTSE All-World index at its best was recently up nearly 70% from the bottom. Emerging markets have risen more than 90%

'Eventually markets are going to flatten out and correct to valuations that are justified. I see a growing gap between what markets are doing and the weaker real economic activities Read more...