The economic effects of COVID have not been equal. Shutterstock/Andrii ZastrozhnovEver since it started, the pandemic has exacerbated the inequality that already existed between households in the UK.
Chinese demand for LNG is one of the factors keeping gas prices so high.
shutterstock A bone china teapot, a pair of leather brogues, a poetry book, a velvet coat, an embroidered tablecloth and a saucepan. These are just a few of the things I have recently bought from charity shops – where someone else’s trash became my treasure.
I have also donated a big bag full of unwanted toys and games. Hopefully, my cast-offs are destined to become the precious discoveries of others too, stumbled across in a serendipitous browsing session.
Nothing but conundrums. koya979Will 2022 be the year where the world economy recovers from the pandemic? That’s the big question on everyone’s lips as the festive break comes to an end.
The answers are there if you look for them. Yogendra Singh, CC BY-SAIt may be the season for peace on Earth and goodwill to all men, but you don’t have to look very far in the financial pages to find stories about businesses doing exactly the opposite.
Shutterstock/Rawpixel.comThe idea that greater diversity in the workplace is good for business seems to be gaining ground. In a recent major step in December 2021, BT announced plans for 25% of its workforce to be from “non-white backgrounds” by the end of the decade.
The new and more transmissible omicron variant threatens to be a tsunami for the NHS and the British economy. Reluctantly, the UK government passed new “plan B” COVID restrictions, requiring masks to be worn in shops and public transport, with a diktat to work from home if possible.
The Formula One duel between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen was resolved in sensational – and controversial – style on the final lap of the last race of 2021.
In the UK, where house prices have reached historic highs and there is a shortage of homes available, the pressure on the property market is stark.
Glance at the headlines and you might be forgiven for wondering if the UK has moved on a year. A debate has been raging about how tough the restrictions must be to combat the latest wave of COVID, while the UK’s withdrawal from the EU is far from over. Brexit minister Lord Frost has just resigned, and January 1 will once again see a set of Brexit changes coming into effect that look likely to exacerbate the economic damage from the pandemic. So what are the January changes and why have we heard so little about them?
