Update Articles on the UK Economy

Lots happening in the UK economy at present. Here is a brief selection of articles that you might find interesting.

Barclaycard's survey of consumer spending always makes for interesting reading and this one is no different, highlighting, as it does, the fact that even as inflation has started to fall, consumer spending hasn't picked up. They reckon that a number of factors account for subdued spending, not least rising Council Tax bills and the higher cost of mobile phones and broadband access.

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Larry Elliott makes the point that since 2010, there's been net inwards migration of nearly 4m people, something that would sound absurd if it were a pre-election pledge today. However, inward migration hasn't boosted per capita GDP as you might expect it to. So why? Larry Elliott reckons that it's a lack of infrastructure that has meant that has resulted in this and that if we are to continue to accept large numbers of immigrants we will need to invest in the infrastructure, not least in housing.

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Are loyalty discounts a good deal for consumers? Certainly pricing is an important part of the marketing mix but the Competition and Markets Authority are investigating the practice among concerns that it's not always in consumers' interests.

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Phillip Inman looks at the current state of public finances and seems to accept that its likely that neither the Conservatives or Labour are going to be in a position to cut taxes post-election. Instead, they're effectively competing to convince voters who will increase taxes the least. This explainer looks at the options facing the parties with regard to a raft of taxes.

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The Institute for Fiscal Studies has called for the next government to focus on boosting growth via increased productivity with a specific focus on boosting living standards. Their research suggests that in the UK, there's been exceptionally slow growth of median and working-age incomes in the UK relative to the US and Germany.

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