Public debt is really five times bigger than we think, says institute
23 Aug 2010 [0 Comments | 340 views]
Public debt is a lot worse than we are being told, says the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) – it reckons that once we include state pension deficit, then total state debt is around £4.8tn or 333 per cent of GDP. Are things really that bad? And if so, what should we do about it? [...]
Europe booms while US stutters – it’s the great illusion
13 Aug 2010 [1 Comment | 699 views]
All of a sudden Uncle Sam can do no right. Talk that the US is heading for a double dip is just the tip of the iceberg. There now seems to be a growing view that the US is technically bust. Only Enron-style false accounting is hiding the truth. Meanwhile, data out this morning shows [...]
The population shift: some hard facts
30 Jul 2010 [0 Comments | 535 views]
Of course, there is nothing factual about projecting the population. Forecasting population growth, just like predicting economic growth, is something of a guessing game. But maybe it is more accurate than most forms of forecasting. After all, armed with information about birth and death rates, and immigration policy, one can make some pretty good guesses. [...]
Cable calls for more immigration: is he right?
30 Jul 2010 [0 Comments | 346 views]
It couldn’t have been worse timing. Vince Cable calls for a more flexible immigration policy, and then a report comes out predicting the UK’s population will rise from 62 million today to 77 million by 2050. And yet it was good timing, too, because yesterday saw the announcement that the default retirement age will be [...]
The great economic oil leak gets worse – only the small people can plug it
17 Jun 2010 [0 Comments | 635 views]
Goodness gracious, news on the economy seems to be gushing forth faster than oil into the Gulf of Mexico. There is only one thing that seems able to match the sheer volume of gas gushing forth from the world’s media on the economy, and that’s the hot air being emitted from the US media, and [...]
Sovereign debt crisis mark II, the real crisis will break in the next decade
12 Feb 2010 [2 Comments | 1,238 views]
There is good news and some very bad news in the latest Barclays Equity Gilt Study, released yesterday. This is one of the more eagerly awaited of the big reports. It is produced once a year and always raises a furore. The good news, looking forward we are probably going to experience less bubbles. The [...]
The demographic time bomb
5 Feb 2010 [1 Comment | 2,607 views]
During the credit crunch we have become so pre-occupied with bankers that we have forgotten a far more serious challenge. But it may be changing. Recently two books have been published looking at this deeper threat. A fascinating article in “Foreign Affairs” magazine came up with a radical solution. And in its latest quarterly report, [...]
The demographic punch
1 Dec 2009 [0 Comments | 838 views]
There are some things economists can deal with, others they can’t. Right now the world is seeing a big underling change, and economists are powerless to do anything about it. We all know the world has got a population problem, The number of human beings on this planet is set to grow and grow. This [...]
Maybe Japan got it right after all
16 Mar 2009 [1 Comment | 278 views]
It just goes to show how deep this crisis has become, when commentators start applauding Japan for the way it handled its own economic crisis that began in 1989 and ended... well, it is not certain it has ended.
But in making that comparison, something rather interesting comes out, something that we should all be aware of.
Immigration is answer to baby boomers retirement
2 Oct 2008 [0 Comments | 271 views]
Here is something to get the blood boiling. Nothing seems more certain to get tempers flaring than the topic of immigration. It has gone a bit quiet of late. Over the last few months people seem to have had other things on their minds - although occasionally you hear comments along the lines that since unemployment is set to rise, immigration clearly needs to reduce.
But now KPMG have really gone along and thrown the cat amongst the pigeons. "The UK and other developed countries such as the US, Western Europe, and Australia” says KPMG, "face a slow-down in the supply of both skilled and unskilled labour in the next few years, if there is not a significant increase in the immigration intake."
It is all the fault of the baby boomers. Our Gordon once said no more boom and bust. Well, it appears boom and bust is not just a phenomenon of economies, it applies to demographics too. The babies of the 1946 to 1961 generation boomed. And the eldest of these boomers is close to retiring now.
The bust occurred between
