Trouble ahead for the UK Economy

Some great applied macro from the Guardian and BBC news in recent days. Here is a selection of articles to enjoy as we head into what promises to be a tough New Year on many fronts. The article from Larry Elliott is gold dust for Year 13 A-Level and IB Economics students!

Richard Partington puts together an end of year piece 'looking forward' to 2023. Looking at the main macroeconomic objectives - economic growth, inflation, and employment - and then public finances and house prices.

Five charts that show the UK’s economic prospects in 2023

The Resolution Foundation has forecast that disposable incomes are going to fall by 3.8% in the year ahead. Additionally, with a significant rise in mortgage interest rates and energy bills, it's going to put a squeeze on household finances.

‘Groundhog year’: UK disposable incomes to fall by 3.8% in 2023

How do you survive on the High Street in the current business environment? This BBC article looks at Flannels, Monsoon and Mark & Spencer, all of which are still opening new stores.

It's an interesting read, and highlights how every store needs to find its own value proposition in order to survive.

High street shops thriving after a tough year

This Guardian editorial looks at the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and goes as far as to suggest that we are all "disaster survivors now."

From a economic point of view, there's some interesting angles to consider: the slow speed at which the UK economy has 'recovered', the impact on the labour market and the health service and the possibility that there are long-term scarring effects on other aspects of the economy that are going to stay with us for a generation or more.

The Guardian view on pandemic recovery: we have only just begun

Larry Elliott suggests that there are seven pillars of Treasury wisdom and looks at them in the context of the past year, arguing that if this is the established wisdom that the Truss government was seeking to overthrow then, ironically, the Truss experiment may simply have served to further entrench them.

In 2022 Liz Truss tried to bin economic orthodoxy – but what is it?

Proof of the impact of the cost of living crisis on retail, with news that there was a leap in the number of shops closing with over 17,000 retail outlets closing last year, the highest number in the last five years. One wonders whether this number is going to be even higher this year.

Retail: Last year saw a big jump in the number of shops closing

Citizens Advice have conducted a survey which suggests that nearly 40% of people would struggle to find an extra £20 at the moment, such is the extent of the cost of living crisis. It shows how fragile some people's current existence is.

More than third of UK adults would struggle to find extra £20