40. Weekly Newsletter

Weekly Newsletter on UK Developments: Week 40 UK Position The UK Government is heavily focused upon trying to contain the spread of the virus and is widely believed to be heading further towards a second national lockdown. These latest pushes for a lockdown are increasingly unpopular and saw over 15,000 protestors in the capital over the weekend. Furthermore, the PM (Johnson) has seen his popularity decline as COVID has progressed- as shown ...

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Coronavirus, markets and behavioural finance

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, global markets continue to face several uncertainties. Markets seem to have been comforted by massive stimulus programmes; which have been larger than we’ve ever seen before. Despite strong responses from governments, this is one of the fastest recessions that appears to be coming. With a recession upon us, Jonas Thulin, Erik Penser Bank, believes that it is already clear that much more needs ...

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Coronavirus: Cyber Aware

Many of us are spending more time online, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Keep yourself and your family secure by following advice made available by the UK government. 'Cyber Aware' is the National Cyber Security Centre's advice on how to stay secure online during coronavirus pandemic.   The Top 6 recommendations from the NCSC are; 1. Create a separate password for your email. 2. Create a strong password using three random words. 3. Save your ...

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Summary from the Macroeconomic Update on 15 April

The trend in daily reports of deaths seem to have peaked in Europe, and markets seem to have followed these developments. Nick Mannion believes that the lack of bad news have probably helped the public sentiment, but that markets are getting ahead of themselves. Almost no countries are unaffected and Europe is expected to take the worst hit. The world economy will likely experience the worst recession since the Great ...

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Summary from the Macroeconomic Update on 6 April

The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has led to a service sector shock with a severe and immediate shakeout of the labor market. The policy response has been fast and aggressive, with a significant fiscal response in Europe and the US. Countries are still at different stages of the outbreak and the question remains if there will be lasting economic damages. Nick Mannion believes there will be a V-shaped or ...

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In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Swedish and British government have issued a set of policy measures to support businesses

The virus outbreak has had a serious impact on economic growth, with consequences both for the British and Swedish economy. The outbreak has caused an unprecedented situation of a simultaneous supply and demand shock with disruptions in global supply chains and lower household spending. The global economy is expected to enter a recession with negative GDP growth in 2020. The British and Swedish government has undertaken comprehensive fiscal policy measures ...

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Coronavirus outbreak may delay UK’s withdrawal from the EU

UK-EU negotiations have been put on hold due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The UK government spokesman said “Both sides remain fully committed to the negotiations and we remain in regular contact with the European Commission to consider alternative ways to continue discussions, including looking at the possibility of video conferencing or conference calls, and exploiting flexibility in the structure in the coming weeks”. Prime Minister Boris Johnson ...

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How is the Coronavirus affecting the global economy?

The spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is a major adverse shock to both the supply side and the demand side of the economy. The supply side and demand side shock will cause a downward shift of the supply and demand curve, implying that employment levels will decrease significantly. Several economists have argued that much of the negative economic effects and job losses that we are seeing is due to the supply ...

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Central Banks respond to the economic risks caused by the spread of the Coronavirus

Following the spread of the Coronavirus, Covid-19, risky asset and commodity prices have fallen sharply, and government bond yields reached all-time lows. The Bank of England voted unanimously to reduce the Bank Rate by 50 basis points to 0.25% on 10 March 2020 in order to help UK businesses and households manage through the economic shock caused by the spread of the Coronavirus. Commenting on the interest rate decision by the ...

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Economic implications of the Coronavirus

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread across the world, major economies are experiencing mounting pressure as consumer spending, production and investment are drastically cut. Subsequently many companies and governments are therefore facing urgent economic challenges. While the situation is unprecedented, the global investment community is bracing for the impact. Sweden’s minister of finance, Magdalena Andersson, said during this Wednesday’s press conference that the Swedish economy is expected to grow ...

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