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8 Dec, 4 tweets, 2 min read
Lots of businesses have refused cash and asked customers to pay by contactless during the panedmic. 💵🦠

Yet the value of cash in circulation has jumped...
...So what's going on? Hoarding? Difficulties for firms in depositing cash?

I was really pleased to discuss this and many other issues about about Covid and the future of cash with @krogoff and @HowardJDavies in our latest @CoronaNomicsTV episode....
....ICYMI watch here 👇
....ex Bank of England deputy governor and now NatWest Group chair Sir Howard Davies explained how Facebook's Libra plans "put the frighteners" on central banks, forcing them to explore launching their own digital currencies,

My @Independent story here: independent.co.uk/news/business/…

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More from @BenChu_

Ben Chu Profile picture
9 Dec
Did the Office for National Statistics really produce ‘false data’ on coronavirus infections?

Were new cases actually plateauing in October?

Had a look at this question for @indypremium ...👇

independent.co.uk/independentpre…
In short, no.

But it's an understandable confusion.

The latest estimates of new daily cases in England produced by ONS modelling of data from its weekly coronavirus survey HAS been revised down dramatically and DOES show much flatter profile in October than previous estimates.. Image
...As many have pointed out (such as @SarahDRasmussen & @ChrisGiles_ ) the ONS modelling estimates are very volatile.

The time series gets revised a lot as new info gets fed into the model.

Some argue it swings too much, and that this is a deficiency of the model...
Read 9 tweets
Ben Chu Profile picture
8 Dec
Interesting and wise column, as always, by @sarahoconnor_ on public reception of economic statistics.

Sarah notes the finding by a recent @ESCoEorg focus group that people were surprised to learn people are classified as employed if they do just one hour of work a week...
...With one participant saying: "Half an hour a day and Fridays off. To me that means unemployed".

Important to note, I feel, that the UK Labour Force Survey suggests people working such low hours are pretty rare....
...Only 1.2% of employed people were working less than 6 hours a week this summer...

ons.gov.uk/employmentandl…
Read 8 tweets
Ben Chu Profile picture
19 Nov
Thread on military spending and the economy… 💂💵

Some suggestions from ministers today that 6% a year higher defence spending will not only bolster the UK’s defence capabilities but also yield much wider economic benefits...1/
...PM suggests new money would “level up our country” and “pioneer new technology”...

..And Defence Sec says it “secures UK jobs and livelihoods", "allows us to invest in our fantastic shipyards and aerospace industry, spreading prosperity to every corner of the UK”...2/
...Is there anything in these claims?

Could extra defence spending mean a bigger economic pie?

Are fears that this new military spending could ultimately crowd out investment in health or social care, as suggested by @PJTheEconomist, misplaced?



...3/
Read 10 tweets
Ben Chu Profile picture
11 Nov
Thread on those EU trade deals with third countries the UK wants to roll over…

50 days to go ⏱️

15 still to go 🌎

Tariff threat looming for some £80bn a year of UK trade with countries ranging from Mexico to Singapore 💵
...1/
...I’ve had a look at the state of play for @independent with @joncstone... 2/

independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
…Here’s the gaps and the size of the economic hole….2/
Read 11 tweets
Ben Chu Profile picture
9 Nov
A thread about "Green gilts"…🌲🪙

So the Chancellor announced today that the government will launch its “first ever Sovereign Green Bond next year”…1/

gov.uk/government/spe…
…First what IS a Green Bond?

Well, it’s a bond raised to “fund projects to tackle climate change, finance much-needed infrastructure investment, and create green jobs across this country,” says the Treasury…2/
….But hang on, aren’t those the things this government has said it plans to borrow lots of money to spend on anyway? Yes.

So what makes a “green” sovereign bond different from any other regular sovereign bond?...3/
Read 10 tweets
Ben Chu Profile picture
9 Nov
NEW: Boris Johnson has “lost interest” in devolution of power in England, says devolution champion Lord Heseltine

My @Independent story:

independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
...Context: the Tory manifesto promised: “Full devolution across England” to enable “every part of our country…to shape its own destiny”

This was presented as part of Johnson's "levelling up" agenda...
...Former local government minister Simon Clarke said in July that a new White Paper would “connect local recovery with levelling up”...

Now Simon Clarke has resigned (personal reasons) & the White Paper has been postponed...
Read 5 tweets

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