Research Briefing
Budget 2014: Background briefing
This note sets out the background to the 2014 Budget.
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Research Briefing
Economic Indicators, March 2014
This Research Paper series summarises the main economic indicators currently available for the UK, along with comparisons with other major OECD countries.
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Research Briefing
Recession and recovery: the German experience
Examines how Germany’s economy has performed well in the post-war recession period due to low unemployment and a large manufacturing sector
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Research Briefing
Social imbalances and population flows to London
“The continued drift of the industrial population to London and the Home Counties constitutes a social, economic and strategical problem which demands immediate attention” – Report of the Royal Commission on the Distribution of the Industrial Population, 1940 A recent report by the Centre for Cities stated that while London’s strong economic performance should be
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Research Briefing
Causes of the eurozone crisis: a summary
The causes of the eurozone crisis are summarised in this two-page overview, which examines why Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus have had to take emergency loans - or "bailouts" - from other eurozone and EU governments and the IMF.
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Research Briefing
Employment is up again – or is it?
New statistics out today suggest that employment is up 193,000 and unemployment is down 125,000 compared to the previous quarter. Politicians and pollsters, journalists and even(!) House of Commons Library staff, repeat the figures without hesitation. But do the statistics really merit this faith, or is a bit more caution in order?
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Research Briefing
Unemployment by Constituency February 2014
This paper contains labour market figures for parliamentary constituencies, as well as a summary of the latest national and regional statistics.
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Research Briefing
How big are the cuts to local government funding?
Today the House will debate the latest Local Government Finance Settlement. This settlement continues the recent trend of reducing funding for authorities. Funding in the central announcement (Settlement Funding Assessment), is set to decrease by 21%, across 2014/15 and 2015/16. However, the Government prefers to discuss a 5% decrease. How do these different figures arise,
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Research Briefing
The “MINT” emerging economies
Ever since the success of the acronym “BRICs” – coined at the beginning of the 2000s to describe the large fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China – economists and investment managers have been attempting to come up with another collection of large emerging economies with bright prospects that can be combined to form
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Research Briefing
The mind, the gap and the maker – innovation and manufacturing in the UK
The jet engine, polyester, graphene: indicative of a problem that has been grappled with by successive Governments – the innovation gap in the UK, menacingly referred to as ‘the valley of death’. All of the products above were invented by UK companies, universities or individuals. After invention, however, their development and much of their commercialisation
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Research Briefing
Economic Indicators, January 2014.
This Research Paper series summarises the main economic indicators currently available for the UK, along with comparisons with other major OECD countries. This month’s articles: "Tax revenues: recession and recovery" and "Lights, roads, water – the fragile state of infrastructure investment"
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Research Briefing
Germany’s 2013 election: shaping the future?
Where is Germany – the most influential country in Europe – heading, under its new grand coalition government?
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Research Briefing
Autumn Statement 2013: a summary
This note sets out the main measures announced in the 2013 Autumn Statement, presented by the Chancellor on 5 December 2013, and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s updated forecasts for the economy and public finances. There are also overviews of policy announcements on the State Pension age, business rates, the cap on welfare spending and jobs and young people.
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Research Briefing
Tax exile on Main Street: Tax avoidance and the future of the tax system
The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement included a series of proposals to obstruct, reverse or frustrate various schemes for tax avoidance. As the Statement noted, despite earlier initiatives, “a minority of taxpayers continue to seek out unacceptable ways to reduce the amount of tax that they pay.” The persistence of avoidance activity highlights one aspect of the
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