What difference does Labour’s 'budget responsibility lock' make?
In one sense it makes no difference at all but it does allow Labour to boost its credibility by increasing the reputational cost of departing from its fiscal plansLabour’s manifesto document opens with...
View ArticleLabour manifesto pledges to boost minimum wage and cut deficit
Ed Miliband promises that a ‘fiscally responsible’ Labour government would help the low-paid and working families without resorting to extra borrowingEd Miliband has placed a significant rise in the...
View ArticleLabour manifesto pledges: what the experts say
Guardian experts analyse the key election policies unveiled by Ed MilibandKey policies Related: Labour manifesto pledges to boost minimum wage and cut deficitRelated: Labour election manifesto: key...
View ArticleChinese export fall raises growth fears
China’s exports shrink by 15%: trade surplus at 13-month lowMore than 8/10 business executives want UK to stay in EUTalks between Athens and creditors expected to get underway5.45pm BSTGreece could...
View ArticleThe Guardian view on Labour’s manifesto: a programme for change | Editorial
Ed Miliband’s pledges are modest, but tough and consistent. But his decision to face up to Labour’s poor ratings on the economy has come very late in the dayLabour’s 2015 general election manifesto is...
View ArticleElection 2015 live: Clegg marks red lines for deals with either Labour or the...
Tories plan to outflank Labour on minimum wageConservatives take six-point lead in Guardian/ICM pollLabour’s manifesto launch: all the key points in one placeIFS says people who vote Labour won’t know...
View ArticlePost-election policy shakeup seen as biggest threat to business by bosses
Finance chiefs rank risk of policy change and referendum on EU membership as biggest threats to UK businessTop company bosses fear that policy shakeups following next month’s election could put a...
View ArticleEveryone hates inheritance tax – so reduce it to 20% | Jolyon Maugham
Even among poorer voters this tax is loathed. Labour should promise to make more people pay it, but at fairer ratesAbout 8% of people who die this tax year – about 44,000 – will have to pay inheritance...
View ArticleUK inflation holds at record low of 0.0%
Fall in clothing and gas prices boosts disposable incomes as CPI measure stays at zeroBritain’s inflation rate has held at its record low of zero, giving disposable incomes a boost and leaving the...
View ArticleThe zero sum game - neither inflation nor deflation
Inflation at 0.0% means the Bank of England is under no pressure to ease its stimulus, but rising or falling wages remain key to UK economic growthPut the “Britain slides into deflation” headlines on...
View ArticleGreen party launches manifesto aimed at ending 'disastrous policy of austerity'
Party focuses key promises on social justice and environment with costs of nearly £200bn a year to be funded by Trident savings and taxes on wealthyThe Green party has launched an ambitious election...
View ArticleGreen party manifesto: what Labour says, only more so
Analysis: The Green pie is pitched way up in the left corner of the electoral sky in the hope of rallying voters uninspired by Ed Miliband’s compromisesNo one can accuse the Greens of lacking ambition....
View ArticleTory economic plans rely on the very growth they threaten to stifle
David Cameron talked up a great recovery at the launch of the Conservatives’ manifesto, but this has been the slowest and weakest in recent historyThe Conservative party line on the economy has changed...
View Article'Timebomb' UK economy will explode after election, says Albert Edwards
Bearish City strategist says coalition has left economy ‘up to its eyeballs in macro manure’ by failing to cut deficit, and that sterling will sufferThe UK economy is a ticking time bomb set to explode...
View ArticleGreen party manifesto launch: spending on everything … but time
After a very brief launch of a ‘political revolution’ in east London, party leader Natalie Bennett left the manifesto’s author with a few questions to answerBlink and you missed it. Barely 20 minutes...
View ArticleJust when hope and courage are called for, Labour promises bean-counting |...
Labour’s focus on cutting the deficit, means progressive voters will have to look elsewhere for inspirationLabour’s 1983 manifesto is widely known as the longest suicide note in history. Its 2015...
View Article'Those sitting on wealth and power aren't going to stand aside and do the...
Why is the gap between rich and poor growing despite rises in GDP? Do benefits help? Does aid work? Eight experts answer these and other questions from the big inequality debateCountries that didn’t...
View ArticleWhere do the Lib Dems' economic plans place them on austerity?
Jam tomorrow is the party’s promise – their pledge to cut current deficit makes them tougher than Labour, but not as tough as the ToriesThere are two groups of parties fighting the election: those who...
View ArticleIMF forecast blows hole in George Osborne's deficit reduction plan
Gloomy view on UK economy says government spending on welfare may need to be higher than Treasury plans, while lower tax receipts will undermine growthBritain’s next government will face a tougher time...
View ArticleThree-minute election: Can any party bring down the deficit? – video
Guardian columnists Jonathan Freedland and Aditya Chakrabortty discuss the un-discussable issue of the campaign. Never mind Nigel Farage's have-a-laugh Ukip manifesto – the most significant story this...
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