Bruges Group Blog

I have been following a select group of (mostly American) financial commentators since 2007, before the Global Financial Crisis. Their tone is even more sombre now. Charles Hugh Smith posted 'I Have a Very Bad Feeling About This' a few days ago, following it with 'No, Central Banks Won't Save Us This Time.' He has been warning for years that we sho...

The tax on alcohol has been raised by 10.1%; the reasons given are 'wider UK tax and public health objectives.' It's mostly to do with the money: last year the Treasury raised £12.4 billion from alcohol duties. This compares with around £8 billion in the US, which has 5 times our population. Clearly the UK Government needs the cash and depends on d...

The general public has little idea of how much debt hangs over our heads. Today, Laura Perrins warns us that government borrowing is now equivalent to 99.2% of GDP (i.e. a whole year's worth of national economic activity); but that is only the tip of the iceberg, because it is only looking at public sector borrowing. Unlike the UK, where valuable f...

By Barnabas Reynolds. The Brexit Freedoms Bill aims to end the special legal status of EU law. It will also simplify the removal of retained EU law. Here Barnabas Reynolds explains the advantages for the City – and the economy. The UK has recently been confronted with a series of adverse economic shocks – from Covid and the war in Ukraine, to the c...

A few weeks ago, I saw a sign stuck to the plastic screen dividing me from a barista. To précis, electronic payment preferred, cash as a last resort. When I politely enquired as to why, I was told, albeit politely, that whilst it was not "due to COVID" (no sensible business is still using that schtick are they?) despite the transaction cost, it was...