Question Author
Yes, the pound rallied a tad, as expected.
I know you’re not a fan of the BBC nor Sky but the firs paragraph here is telling:
/Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "The downturn in economic activity during 2020 looks even worse than previously thought, and the subsequent recovery even weaker, following the latest set of national accounts revisions."
Analysis by Dharshini David, global trade correspondent.
The good news is that the economy wasn't going into reverse over the summer, the bad news is that's because the economy was smaller than previously thought prior to that point.
With some consumers opting to hang on to savings built up during the pandemic rather than spend, the economy is still not, unlike some competitors, bigger than its pre-pandemic peak.
So a growth plan to boost our prosperity, as the government intends, seems ideally timed.
But some economists point out that our productive capacity is limited - just look at the shortages of skilled workers. So as it stands, those £45bn of tax cuts may be even more likely to boost prices, and ultimately rates, if they prompt higher spending./
And I reckon that many won’t be spending those savings any time soon as they’ll be using them for basic essentials like food and heating over the forthcoming winter?
As for the decision of not windfall-taxing the energy companies it’s nice to see that some employers at least can redistribute the profits and wealth to their employees in a crisis:
/Retail giant giving staff third pay rise in just over a year to help them cope with rising living costs
Retail giant Currys is giving another pay rise to its staff under moves to help them cope with the rising cost of living.
Hourly rates will increase by a further 3.5% to £10.35 across the UK and to £11.43 in London - the third rise in the last 13 months and just one month after the latest increase came into effect.
The company, which has more than 300 stores, has now increased hourly pay by 15.6% in just over a year.
The announcement follows an extensive review by Currys' cost of living group, which was set up earlier this year and is made up of senior leaders from across the business, to develop a response to support employees.
The latest pay rise will benefit around 10,000 hourly paid employees.
Alex Baldock, group chief executive at Currys, said: "Every day I hear from colleagues who are feeling the impact of the rising cost of living and we're determined to do what we can to help.
"When it comes to more capable and committed colleagues, we're putting our money where our mouth is." /