Wednesday newspaper round-up: Public investment, debanking, housing crisis, recession fears
The economy is on course for another “decade in the doldrums” unless politicians increase public investment by £15 billion annually, starting at the autumn statement in two weeks’ time, a think tank has claimed. Growth is poised to limp along over the coming years and to remain far below its pre-2008 financial crisis trend, extending a 15-year squeeze on household living standards, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. - The Times
Complaints about bank account closures have jumped in the wake of the Nigel Farage debanking scandal, new figures show. The Financial Ombudsman opened 1,613 new cases related to all bank account closures in the six months to the end of September, new figures show, equivalent to around 268 cases each month. - Telegraph
Britain’s housing market is past “peak pain” and prices look likely to bottom out by next summer, according to the estate agency Savills. The average UK house price is projected to fall by 3% in 2024, after a 4% drop this year, the upmarket estate agent and property advisory firm said in its five-year outlook. - Guardian
The message for the investment industry was an uncomfortable one yesterday. British investors were “fleeing for the exits in droves”, according to an analysis by Calastone, the funds infrastructure group. Investors withdrew a net £1.2 billion from equity funds in October, making it the worst month since the aftermath of the mini-budget debacle last year, when a net £2.4 billion was withdrawn in only a few weeks. - The Times
A warning light on the economy’s dashboard is flashing red. It is not sluggish GDP growth that is glaring most vividly, nor the modest rise in unemployment. Instead, a small band of economists fear that a slump in the money supply is the clearest sign yet of the economy facing a serious recession. To them, it signals that inflation will be crushed so completely that Britain instead risks falling into a deflationary trap. - Telegraph