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Tag: investment

Strengthening data push construction forecasters towards greater optimism

Strengthening data push construction forecasters towards greater optimism

Construction industry forecasters have been busily upgrading their forecasts in the light of a turnaround in industry fortunes since Spring. Despite all raising their expectations for the future path of construction, at first glance the forecasts from Construction Products Association, Experian and Hewes appear to be telling very different stories. That certainly seems to be the take-away message from the graph. In some ways they are telling different tales, but in reality there’s more similarity than meets the eye. One…

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What is it that I apparently know that the Bank of England economists do not?

What is it that I apparently know that the Bank of England economists do not?

There is a heightened sense of concern over the fragility of the economy after yesterday’s speech by Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England and the release of its monetary policy committee minutes today. It all fuels the worry that we really are heading back into the deep doodoo. The downsides are obvious. The upside is that this should help to pull inflation down in the medium term, after a series of “special factors” raised the rate to a level not…

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Comforting data ahead of the budget

Comforting data ahead of the budget

As the Chancellor Alistair Darling puts his final touches to the Budget he will be relieved by the recent spate of comforting data. Last Wednesday we had employment statistics showing that the unemployment was falling. On Thursday the figures on public finances were far healthier than expected, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimating that the level of borrowing for the financial year will come in £12 billion lower than forecast in the last Pre-Budget Report. Today we had the inflation…

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