Political Economy of UK

In the clash between austerity and Keynesian stimulus paradigms in the advanced capitalist economies in general and the United Kingdom in particular, this paper argues that in the era of global climate change and global warming, merely proposing stimulus in opposition to austerity is flawed. In contrast, the paper proposes that an eco-socialist perspective with emphasis on green economy, sustainability and equality is of historic importance and relevance.

In the clash between austerity and Keynesian stimulus
paradigms in the advanced capitalist economies in
general and the United Kingdom in particular, this
paper argues that in the era of global climate change
and global warming, merely proposing stimulus
in opposition to austerity is flawed. In contrast, the
paper proposes that an eco-socialist perspective with
emphasis on green economy, sustainability and equality
is of historic importance and relevance.

Inequality appears to be back on the intellectual and political agenda. This paper provides a commentary on this renewed interest, drawing on an empirical discussion of inequality in the UK. The paper argues that inequality should be seen as produced in the inherently unequal social relations of production, drawing attention to the role of social struggle in shaping dynamics of inequality. However, inequality is not just produced in dynamic class struggle in the formal economy, but also through the social reproduction of labour power on a day-to-day and inter-generational basis. As such, inequalities of household resources at any point in time may be reproductive of greater future inequality. It is argued that inequality has risen in the UK over recent decades because of changes in the social relations of production in the formal economy and social reproduction in the domestic sector, both of which have witnessed significant state interventions that have increased structural inequalities. It is argued that, absent of significant change, the underpinning structural dynamics in the UK will lead to further increases in inequality over the short and longer-term. Given this, we might expect to see an already emergent ‘New Politics of Inequality’ intensifying in the coming decades.

On June 23, 2016, United Kingdom (UK) voters decided to leave the Euro-pean Union (EU), thereby starting a process commonly known as Brexit. British Prime Minister Theresa May invoked EU Article 50 on March 29, 2017. The invocation of EU Article 50 puts the UK on a course to leave the EU by the end of March 2019. Meanwhile, the UK remains a full member of the European Union. Since the Brexit vote, there have been several extremely pessimistic predictions of the economic and political effects of the UK's exit from the EU. For example, the London School of Economics' Center for Economic Performance forecast a loss in UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of from 2.3%-9.5% and a decrease in UK trade. The major economic impact of Brexit to date is the decline in the value of the British Pound (GBP), which has fallen from USD $1.467 on June 20, 2016 to $1.204 on January 16, 2017. A decline in the value of a country's currency means that its products will be less expensive on the world market. Ceteris paribus, a decline also decreases a country's unemployment rate and its citizens will pay more for imported goods. I collect data on the UK and its ten largest trading partners to determine whether those eleven countries have been harmed by the Brexit vote. These countries are:, and the United States. For each country, I estimate the effect of Brexit on exchange rates, GDP, unemployment , and other macroeconomic and political variables.

Author: L. Jan Reid

The sixth annual World Pensions Forum was held on 23-24 February 2017 in London. Over 120 representatives attended: from pension and sovereign funds, central banks and government agencies including financial regulators.

Topics discussed included environmental, social and governance (‘ESG’) factors and the role of supranational institutions acting as facilitators, issuers and co-investors along- side pension funds.

The Forum also addressed the economic implications of pension reform in Europe and the United States, the empowerment of employee-nominated pension trustees and women board members, and how ‘best-in-class pension investors’ from the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, France and the Netherlands can foster a more effective form of asset ownership: fiduciary capitalism.

This brief considers the available evidence on whether the UK economy has experienced any significant degree of ‘rebalancing’ since 2010. The need to correct a range of structural imbalances in the British economy has become associated in particular with the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, but has emerged as a rare shared objective in economic policy for all the major political parties.