2009 has to mark a decisive turning point, away from the neo-liberal market-always-knows-best conventional wisdom that brought our economy to the brink of a catastrophic collapse, towards a fairer, more balanced economy delivering sustainable prosperity.
This is going to be a grim year. Unemployment will increase every month. Some predict it will hit three million, but [...]

Filed under: Economics, Employers, Financial crisis, Manufacturing, Recession | 4 Comments »

Channel 4 likes to shock, but their decision that President Ahmadinejad of Iran – a regime that that both locks and beats up trade unionists -was a suitable person for their alternative Christmas broadcast was wrong.

Filed under: Human rights | 4 Comments »

Today we have published our second TUC Recession Report. Since we produced our first analysis the news has been dismal. The latest figures from Eurostat show that the economy has been shrinking in both the UK and the Euro area, and that this country entered the recession ahead of most other European countries. Independent economic [...]

Filed under: Employers, Recession, Recession Report | Comments Off

Today’s figures show that long-term unemployment (over 12 months) has increased, reaching 438,000, 54,000 higher than in October 2007.
The number of redundancies in August-October 2008 have also risen 180,000 – up from 139,000 in May–July 2008 – with increases across all industries. The worst affected areas have been distribution, hotels and restaurants, transport and communications, [...]

Filed under: Employers, Recession, Welfare | Comments Off

Today’s unemployment figures show that at the end of October this year 1,864,000 people in the UK were unemployed. We predict that by the time we get the figures for December they will show that 2 million people were out of work and seeking it over Christmas. Even more concerning is the rise in the claimant [...]

Filed under: Employers, Labour market, Recession, Welfare | Comments Off

The CBI have joined the fray on public sector pensions.
Of course they are more subtle than the Taxpayers’ Alliance and right-wing tabloids in their arguments, but they will still be seized on by all those aiming to stir up pensions envy from private sector staff understandably angry about not having a pension. And I thought it was [...]

Filed under: Pensions | 1 Comment »

Once again the Taxpayers Alliance are all over the media. Today’s claim is that councils are spending millions on ’spin’ through an analysis of council’s PR budgets. But this is even more thinly based than most TPA reports. Councils have a statutory duty to advertise things like planning applications – hardly spin. Nor do I think [...]

Filed under: Tax, They Just Don't Get It | Comments Off

David “Danny” Blanchflower will be stepping down from the Monetary Policy Committee next year.  I have sung his praises elsewhere and, of course, since the crash he has taken on the aura of a latter day prophet.  It’s a shame that the MPC will be losing the one member who saw it all coming.  But [...]

Filed under: Economics, Financial crisis, Monetary policy | Comments Off

Everyone here at the UN Climate Change conference in Poznan is speaking about two key issues now – the EU’s climate package, and the incoming Obama administration – and their impact on securing a new climate change treaty in 2009.

Filed under: Environment | Comments Off

Lots of Tory glee today about comments by Peer Steinbruck apparently criticising the Government’s fiscal stimulus.  It’s worth reading the whole interview by Steinbruck however before getting carried away. It’s clear he is not arguing against fiscal stimulus as such (the German’s have just agreed their own 32 billion euro package after all) but against attempts by [...]

Filed under: Economics, Financial crisis, Recession | 1 Comment »