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Chancellor Rishi Sunak yesterday in the House of Commons offered some frank discussion of the difficult economic decisions in the months ahead. The first hour… Read More »Difficult decisions ahead …

A valuable recent contribution A Post-Coronavirus Recovery in Asia—Extending a “Whatever it Takes” Lifeline to Small Businesses in the IMF coronavirus blog by staffers Kenneth… Read More »IMF blog on small business support

Main headline in the Financial Times today “Sunak bends to pressure for 100% guarantees on small business loans“. HMT is apparently considering 100% state guarantees… Read More »100% loans to UK “micro smes”: this sounds like a welcome development

The Financial Times headlines today (Universities’ plea for £2bn bailout falls on deaf ears in Treasury) on the financial impact of Covid-19 on UK universities… Read More »UK Universities a special case for support? I am not so sure…

Well worth reading this exchange, published yesterday, summarizing Treasury select committee concerns about the UK governments’s financial support to the economy with a detailed reply… Read More »Some evidence of the defensive mindset inside HM Treasury

CBILS, the UK Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, has apparently now approved loans to 12,000 small firms with turnover of less than £45mn. A total… Read More »Two problems with the UK small business loan scheme – borrowers too few & loans too large

amongst several gloomy headlines, this from today’s Financial Times stands out for me: “British high street pleads for state help with rent“ This call is… Read More »growing calls in UK for a furlough scheme for rent

.. and as damaging in the 2020s as it was in the 1920s The beginning of the weekend. I am pondering some troubling comparisons between… Read More »The Treasury View- alive and well today

There are a myriad of UK corona virus support schemes: for small firms, large firms, self employed, larger firms, sole directors, charities … no need… Read More »Government by press release

A major current problem for US policy makers is the exhaustion of the $350bn earmarked for the paycheck protection program, part of the $2trn of… Read More »The honey pot : why has the US paycheck protection program run out of money quite so fast?