Why the economy is not yet listening to the chancellor's battle cry

Calling for growth is not the same as delivering it

Growth, growth, growth” is the most persistent economic mantra of the postwar years. It’s been trumpeted so often and by so many that it seems like the only fixed star in a rapidly changing firmament. From the supply-side fantasies of the former Conservative chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng to the demand-side prudence of the incumbent Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, it has cast its fickle spell across the political imagination. But calling …

Why the economy is not yet listening to the chancellor's battle cry

Sky's Paul Kelso writes that Rachel Reeves has boxed herself in at a time when the challenges to her growth mantra are only expected to intensify.

Why the economy is not yet listening to the chancellor’s battle cry

Since the turn of the year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has had a single priority, repeated loud and clear at every opportunity; growth. It was a battle cry repeated from Beijing to Cape Town via Davos and repeatedly at home but, judging by figures for January, the economy is not yet listening. A contraction in GDP of 0.1% was below economists’ consensus of a similar amount of growth in the first month of the year. Following a larger than expected …