21 January 2016

What’s going on in the global markets? And how exposed is Britain?

After six years of Osbornomics, the country is more exposed to financial contagion than it was before the crash.

(Photo By George Osborne holding the red box before leaving 11 Downing Street to deliver his Budget. Photograph: Getty Images.)

Today, two facts about the UK economy appear to contradict each other. That’s this week’s news: firstly about unemployment, and secondly about interest rates.

Unemployment has now finally reached pre-recession levels, with the unemployment rate back at 5.1 per cent. Last time it was this low was way back in 2006, two Prime Ministers and nearly a whole decade ago. But this week, Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, confirmed that interest rates – seven years after the global financial crisis – still won’t rise, and will remain abnormally low.