The challenge of Levelling Up

The unequal provision of public services in the UK, from public transport to housing to much else besides, has become a political issue, and public discontent at this has given rise to the (comparatively new) political phenomenon known as Levelling Up. Having woken up to this discontent, both major political parties are urgent to prove that they have the interests of the left behind and less well served at heart, and that they have a plan to do something about it. But the first rounds of Westminster’s initiatives to address the issue have been disappointing.

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The outlook for official interest rates

Market sentiment towards central bank official interest rates has changed quite sharply in the first few weeks of 2023, and there is a definite feeling in the air that the rate of interest rate rises we saw in 2022 will ease, and perhaps that the rises may even soon come to an end. While there are definite reasons for the extreme pessimism of the latter months of 2022 to be lifting, we think it may be premature to declare that central bank tightening has run its course.

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