The idea that US interest rates will stay higher for longer is probably wrong: The 0.4% rise in US consumer prices in March didn’t look like headline news. It was the same as the February increase, and the year-on-year rise of 3.5% is still sharply down from 5% a year ago. All the same, this …
School results, smoking rates, shop closures? New statistics tool helps you compare local areas in the UK: Stephen Plaster|Shutterstock If you’re not a die-hard numbers person, government statistics can often go right over your head. That is, unless the data is easy to access and directly speaks to your everyday life. A new online service …
Matric results: South Africa’s record school pass rates aren’t what they seem – what’s really happening in the education system: South Africa's minister of basic education, Angie Motshekga. Luba Lesolle/Gallo Images via Getty Images South Africa’s matric (grade 12) class of 2023, which wrote final school-leaving exams late last year, has been hailed by the …
Mortgage rates are falling but borrowers are still feeling the squeeze – a finance expert explains how to cut your repayments: Cast Of Thousands/Shutterstock Around 5 million households have seen their mortgage interest rate change since the Bank of England base rate started to rise in late 2021. Over the course of the 2023 alone, …
Interest rates have stopped rising, but 2023 hikes could still cause recession for some economies: Central banks in the US, UK and Europe have been trying to slow inflation without creating a recession. eamesBot/Shutterstock Central banks on both sides of the Atlantic kept their main interest rates unchanged for the fourth successive month in December …
Inflation has affected the UK, US and Europe differently – here’s what this means for interest rates: The Bank of England’s governor has repeatedly warned that it will not cut UK interest rates any time soon, even with a recent sharp fall in consumer price inflation. Like central banks in the US and eurozone, the …
Interest rates: if central banks don’t start cutting them soon, it could actually increase inflation: Another reason to be fearful. Golden Dayz What next for interest rates? The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is widely expected to leave them unchanged when it meets on November 2, despite the fact that UK headline inflation …
Inflation: raising interest rates was never the right medicine – here’s why central bankers did it anyway: Pain, no gain? Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey. IMF, CC BY-SA Inflation remains too high in the UK. The annual rate of consumer price inflation to September was 6.7%, the same as a month earlier. This is well …
Why central banks should stop raising interest rates: Mortgage borrowers breathed a sign of relief following a recent pause in the Bank of England’s 14-month campaign of base rate hikes. Led by the US Federal Reserve, many of the world’s major central banks, including the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England, have …
Central banks say interest rates will stay high but it’s unclear if this will be enough to curb inflation: Central bankers, policymakers and academics meet annually at Jackson Hole, Wyoming to discuss the economy. Sarah Hollemans/Shutterstock The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, has recently signalled that it will keep interest rates high for as …
Breastfeeding increased during the pandemic but what does that tell us about how to improve rates?: SeventyFour/Shutterstock During the pandemic, there had been concerns from healthcare professionals that the restrictions placed on daily life would lead to a disruption in breastfeeding. But our new research shows that the number of women who continued to exclusively …
How rising interest rates are affecting UK businesses: Stock-Asso/Shutterstock From chip shops to tech start-ups, and even large, well-established companies, rising interest rates have had an impact right across the business world. After 14 consecutive base rate hikes by the Bank of England since 2021, this is causing particular problems for companies with a lot …
Interest rates: the case for cutting them permanently to zero: shutterstock In 1937 the English economist Joan Robinson proposed that “when capitalism is rightly understood, the rate of interest will be set at zero and the major evils of capitalism will disappear”. John Maynard Keynes, who had taught Robinson, suggested something similar a year earlier …
UK interest rates: crashing the economy is no way to bring down inflation: It won't hurt a bit. Kevin CC The Bank of England (BoE) has raised interest rates once again to 5.25%, mirroring similar moves by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. The fact that the UK is still suffering from high …
Five ways to take advantage of rising interest rates to boost your savings: It's always a good time to save more, if you can. tommaso79/Shutterstock With the Bank of England base rate currently the highest it has been since early 2008, you may have a valuable opportunity to increase your earnings on pensions, investments and …
Better bipolar diagnosis may reduce suicide rates in boys – new research: Lopolo/Shutterstock Suicide rarely happens in the absence of severe mental health problems. Research indicates that psychiatric disorders are prevalent in up to 90% of adolescents who die from suicide. In particular, what are known as affective disorders, such as major depressive disorder and …
Jurors who believe rape myths contribute to dismal conviction rates – but judge-only trials won’t solve the problem: Shutterstock After years of consultations and reports, the Scottish government is proposing to conduct a pilot to test out running rape trials with just a judge – and no jury. The conviction rate in Scotland for rape …
Ukraine war: the devastating effects of conflict on infant mortality rates – new research: The brutal war in Ukraine is now over a year old. While estimates of the numbers of civilians killed and injured vary, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has estimated that 8,317 civilians have been killed and a …