The University of Strathclyde
This week, we are expecting to receive a response from the Scottish Government to the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery’s report.
But how are businesses coping in Scotland as the lockdown is eased? And what does this all this tell us about the right policy response?
This update provides a snapshot of new data on the Scottish economy and households. There remains lots of uncertainty for businesses and workers. Our latest Scottish Business Monitor with Addleshaw Goddard released earlier this week found that day-to-day activity remains constrained and expectations are for firms to operate at a fraction of their usual capacity in the next six months. This echoes many of the indicators in this article. Whilst there have been improvements from the severe lows at the height of the lockdown, economic indicators on the whole remain subdued and many households are continuing to see financial hardship.
The Addleshaw Goddard Scottish Business Monitor, produced in partnership with the Fraser of Allander Institute shows that as lockdown restrictions begin to ease and the economy starts to open back up, sentiment amongst the Scottish business community is showing some tentative signs of improvement. However, the overall outlook remains challenging.
ONS have recently released some new experimental regional data which look at how households spend their money. This article looks at these data in more detail, exploring what they tell us about household consumption and saving across the UK.
This update provides a snapshot of new data on the Scottish economy and households in the week up to 24th July. The latest data shows consumer interest in some sectors rebounding but a sizeable proportion of Scottish businesses that remain closed and do not intend to restart trading soon.
Today we had new Scottish GDP data for the month of May released. [It’s the Glasgow Fair today(!), so we’ll keep this update short.] Unsurprisingly, the figures show that the economy remained in a high state of lockdown that month. Figure 1: Headline Scottish GDP to May 2020 Source: Scottish …
This update provides a snapshot of new data on the Scottish economy and households in the week up to 17th July. Given that were are still in the relatively early stages of the easing of lockdown measures it is not surprising that there is little of any big improvements in the economy.
This article summarises some of the data released today on the Scottish labour market, as well as data from the welfare system and Coronavirus employment support schemes.
How should a wealth tax be designed? What and who should be taxed in principle, and would this be feasible in practice? And, given the interest in devolving greater revenue responsibility to the Scottish Parliament, would a wealth tax be suitable for devolution? This article considers some of these questions.
One consequence of the recessions of the 1970s and 1980s was a permanent fall in demand for industrial property. They bequeathed thousands of empty buildings and vacant, often derelict sites. So, given the current crisis, what’s next for commercial property and town centres?