Sep 14, 2022

Summer heat in the UK economy

Photo: British woman shopping on her mobile phone.

Original article here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/summer-heat-uk-economy-winston-economics/?trackingId=7680tApszdhZUzT1lm0MMg%3D%3D

The UK is on a brink of recession based on various reports in the media, however, its performance has so far been a perfect reflection of post-Covid-lockdown, when many people did not do much shopping, did not go out, and did not do any entertainment. At this moment the UK economy is booming, although the peak of frenzied spending had already subsided. Notwithstanding, everybody is trying to catch up on so many things in their lives that the prices all went up by a double digit percentage.

The only unpleasant inconvenience for both businesses and households is that energy companies and energy suppliers had decided to also join in into this spending chaos and hence, unexpectedly are eating more of the cash than ever before. Of course, this means that there is an additional pressure on consumer spending, which annoys those who try to sell them, finally after two years of quiet pious life. The rising cost of living, therefore, is a natural phenomenon of increased and haste buying of everything one wants after a stint under a quarantine.

ONS is reporting that output per hour worked has increased since the lockdown, which is a good sign of overall enjoyment of the freedoms regained.