Adam Smith

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Adam Smith

The Government is trying hard to convince us that the country’s economic woes and the precarious state of the public finances are all the fault of global events. “The world has changed” is the new mantra, repeated as often as possible by ministers and in press releases. One cannot ignore the impact that Donald Trump’s tariff policies have had on the global economy in general and the knock-on consequences for the UK in particular are real.

4 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Adam Smith

The nationalisation of British Steel seems inevitable. Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, described such a move in Parliament as “the likely option”. The Conservatives are accusing the Government of having already done a “botched nationalisation” and the minor parties are all calling for it. The relationship with the current owners has effectively broken down.

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Adam Smith

OpinionAdam SmithTue, April 15, 2025 at 6:00 AM UTC5 min readWriting in The Telegraph this month, the Prime Minister said that he would “use industrial policy to help shelter British business from the storm” as Donald Trump unleashed tariffs on the global economy. Sir Keir Starmer went on to criticise those who might find this approach “uncomfortable”, arguing such a reaction was nothing more than clinging to “old sentiments”.

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Adam Smith

Last week, the Chancellor tried to use the Spring Statement to burnish her more hawkish credentials and reassure the public and the markets that she was in control of the public finances. She told the House of Commons that she would “never take risks with the public finances and would never do anything to put household finances in danger”. If meeting the “non-negotiable’ fiscal rules required £15bn of welfare and spending cuts, then so be it.

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Adam Smith

With the Spring Statement just days away – and with it, the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) latest verdict on the country’s economic prospects – there is now apparently growing resentment in Government about the fiscal watchdog and the power it wields. From the party who in opposition used the OBR as a political tool to attack Liz Truss’s mini-Budget and then in government increased its powers and responsibilities, this is more than a little ironic. But part of me knows how they feel.