We have known since early this year that because of Covid-19 and lockdowns, public examinations would not go ahead this summer. So, the question is how can we design a mechanism to encourage accurate portrayal of pupil performance, when there may be an incentive to exaggerate?
CPI inflation rose by a large amount (0.6%) for the second month running and is now at 2.1%. The main drivers of the increase from April were Clothing and footwear and Recreation and Culture. Women’s clothing showed some very large increases. The current high levels of monthly inflation are unlikely to be sustained and are due to recovery of some prices from low levels in the first lockdown and short-run adjustment and supply-chain issues. Inflation will continue to increase until it peaks in early 2022 and then comes down again. The peak may be above 3% but is unlikely to exceed 4%.
There is no doubt that Covid-19 has caused significant disruption to children’s lives and there is understandable concern about their educational progress. This has only been exacerbated by the recent outcry about the level of funding announced by the government to support their “catch-up” plans, which resulted in the resignation of Sir Kevan Collins. In addition, the current narrative around “catch-up” does not take account of children’s social and emotional needs as we move forward, focusing primarily on educational outcomes. Moreover, the Government “catch-up” plan is not clear about
The Bank of England is searching for a new Chief Economist, and the formal deadline for applications was Wednesday 2 June. But what is the Bank’s Chief Economist expected to do? And what skills and qualifications does he or she need? After all, the Bank has lots of economists. What special responsibilities does our central bank need a Chief Economist to carry out?
CPILW rose significantly to 1.5% in April from 0.8% in March. The official CPIH measure of inflation also rose significantly to 1.6% from 1.0% the previous month. The gap between the official measure and the measure using lockdown weights has remained small but positive. This contrasts with the months prior to December 2020, when CPIH was less than CPILW, indicating that the official measure tended to understate inflation in that period.
Renato Giacon; Principal Counsellor, EU Affairs, Policy and Partnerships Vice Presidency, at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Corrado Macchiarelli; Research Manager for Global Macroeconomics at NIESR
This post was originally published on the LSE blog EUROPP - European Politics and Policy
The launch of a series of insight pieces by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) on the contours of a new fiscal framework for the United Kingdom has important implications for investment, productivity and sustained growth – not only for the UK but also for other countries. The economic recovery from the pandemic and the transition to a net-zero economy places a gigantic demand on sound fiscal policies around the world.
Swapan Pradhan of the BIS and I begin by looking at bonds as an asset. The striking fact is that over the past 20 years there has been an explosion in global investor demand for bonds denominated in the main currencies – dollars, euros and sterling.
The impact of Covid-19 on the education sector is well documented. Schools experienced partial closures due to national lockdown for the first time in March 2020, with a second round of partial closures from January to March 2021. With schools now open to all pupils, the focus is on how to recover from this disruption. Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the narrative in the media and policy recommendations focuses on the impact of school closures on children, with talk of learning loss, and “catch-up” plans. Disappointingly, the impact on teachers and ways to support them moving forward has be
Summary
CPILW fell to 0.8% in March from 0.9% in February. The official CPIH measure of inflation rose significantly to 1% from 0.7% the previous month. The increase in inflation captured by CPIH may therefore be misleading, as it puts too large a weight on those sectors driving the increase.
