Protectionist Politics in America?

The Economist has been pretty scathing in their condemnation of Barack Obama's recent restriction on tyre imports from China, labelling the policy: "bad politics, bad economics, bad diplomacy".

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CBI warns that UK could be slow to recover from recession

Some mixed signals around in the media at present. The Confederation for British Industry are taking a cautious approach to prospects for recovery.
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A world in debt

Excellent interactive map from The Economist showing public debt across the world.
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Fall in sterling

Comments by the Bank of England have prompted a fall in the value of the pound.
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Government expenditure

Government spending, the size of our public sector and the challenge of reducing the deficit are big issues for the next election. Check out this excellent graphic from the Financial Times website:

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America's debate on "big" government.

America seems very confused about the nature of its economic system. Many criticised the government's decision not to rescue Lehman's a year ago, then we a saw an unprecedented fiscal stimulus package to fight recession. Now, republicans are on the streets protesting against "big government" in the form of healthcare reform. Is Obama really trying to move America to the left or is he just bringing provision of this merit good in line with other wealthy economies? Meanwhile, the French are kicking up a fuss over pay and bonus regulation - arguing for more government intervention in the market. Did the financial crisis prove that the capitalist model is fundamentally flawed or is it still the "least worst" system? The debate continues.

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Recession time-line

Follow the world economy from credit crunch to full recession with this BBC resource.
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Household wealth falls by 31k

New figures show the impact of the recession on wealth of Uk households.

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The Bank that Bust the World

Why the collapse of Lehman had disastrous consequences for the world economy. Some intelligent television viewing this week. BBC 2 Thursday 2100 or check out iplayer at a time that suits.

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Manufacturing nudges economy towards recovery

British manufacturing output is on the rise again, mainly due to increased car production. This was helped by government fiscal stimulus in the form of a car scrappage scheme.
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Retail recovery hopes were premature

Some good retail growth in the summer had given rise to optimism but recent figures show that recovery is at best fragile.
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UN warns of deflation

The UN has warned that deflation may undermine recovery.
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Britain to lag behind other leading economies in recovery

The OECD has released its latest projections for the world economy.
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Financial Times Resource

Excellent page on the global financial crisis from the Financial Times.

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