Blog
Unit 2 Macro: Britain back in Recession
29th April 2012
Provisional estimates show that Britain’s recovery from the debt crisis has stalled yet again with real GDP falling by 0.2% in the 1st quarter of 2012. Many small and medium sized businesses want to grow, have products whose demand is rising and wish to take advantage of a competitive exchange rate - but the fragility of the financial system is holding them back and the Channel 4 news broadcast below is superb in highlighting the weaknesses caused by fiscal austerity and de-leveraging in the banking system. The UK economy has seen almost no growth since the Coalition government took office in May 2010. Plan A isn’t working George.
“The performance of the economy in the past four years has been the worst in peacetime for at least a century” (Video news report here)
Fears of construction companies
See also: BBC News: UK economy shrank by more than first thought
Update: August 2012: UK recession less deep than thought (BBC news)
Geoff Riley
Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.