Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement will be judged in terms of its perceived ability to lift the UK economic growth rate. The signs are not propitious, most economic commentators, taking account of the lack of growth over the past two quarters, are expecting relatively limited growth during the 2024. It is as well to note that...Read More

The recently published Bank of England (BoE) update on its secondary objectives: a secondary competition objective (SCO and a secondary competitiveness and growth objective (SCGO), both delivered via the Bank’s Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) role is a significant annual event (BoE 2023). This is also the week when the Bank has announced its decision on...Read More

The recent meeting of the BRICS in South Africa, or to give its full title – The BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Universal Security, and Innovative Growth – witnessed its substantial enlargement, from the initial five countries of Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa to 12 countries. The enlarged BRICS now includes the UAE,...Read More

There is little doubt that on October 7th, 2022, by intensifying and widening its export controls the US engaged in a “hot war” against China by attempting to destroy that country’s  capacity to develop further its semiconductor industry. The US has effectively unleashed a campaign of industrial sabotage against China across this crucial industrial sector....Read More

The contemporary geopolitical world is unipolar, with the US (aided by its Western allies) attempting to impose a specific ideological polity on the rest of the world. The analysis developed in this paper is that such an absolutist political approach is dangerous to the peaceful stability of the world order and fails to appreciate the...Read More

GPI Associate Director and Senior Fellow, Dr Michael Lloyd, will speak at an upcoming Z/Yen webinar on “Global Financial Challenges – The Role Of Central Bank Digital Currencies“, which will be live streamed on the 15th of March 2023 from 11:00 to 11:45 GMT. This is a free event and you can register for the...Read More

In September 2022 a new Conservative government led by Liz Truss embarked on a new path for economic policy, ostensibly challenging “Treasury orthodoxy”, leaving aside the fact that they never defined what Treasury orthodoxy was. The initiative did not start well! Chancellor Kwarteng’s statement in the UK parliament on Friday, September 23rd led to a...Read More

This article was originally published by Z/Yen. There is much discussion about trust in money these days, especially, towards the end of 2022, in relation to crypto-currencies and to some stablecoins. Indeed, money, though intangible, is all about trust. This is true whether we are discussing private money or public money. However, beyond trust per se, the...Read More

The article (link) examines the rationale behind the exploration by the vast majority of the world’s central banks of introducing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The phenomenon is discussed in the context of a number of key issues: a) the main drivers of central bank interest, b) the crucial role of public money in supporting...Read More

Two well-respected analysts and commentators, John Mearsheimer (2022) and Wolfgang Streeck (2022a and b), have recently put forward a persuasive thesis that historical and contemporary fault-lines are placing the EU in a position where its political and economic independence may be terminally challenged (see especially Streeck (2022b) in an Unheard interview. In summary, the thesis...Read More