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Chris Giles

Chris Giles

Financial Times

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The bridge that bursts Britain’s public spending myths

Investment is a long game that does not transform the immediate growth outlook, and cuts are difficult

30.10.2025 7

Financial Times

Chris Giles

No need for a moral panic about the welfare system

It’s far from perfect, but the UK’s spending is broadly controlled and employment is high

16.10.2025 30

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Think twice before rushing to fix the UK’s broken property taxes

It took us a generation to get into the present council tax mess and would take another to emerge with minimal scars

03.10.2025 7

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Economic dynamism is the victim in Trump’s second term

Few sectors will escape the negative supply shocks caused by the president’s policies

24.09.2025 4

Financial Times

Chris Giles

The UK is a fiscal saint, not a sinner

Markets ultimately will take notice if the government demonstrates its ability to lower deficits

03.09.2025 8

Financial Times

Chris Giles

The Fed’s future hangs in balance after Trump’s assault

The central bank does not work properly if a president can bend it to his will

26.08.2025 3

Financial Times

Chris Giles

How the Fed should deal with US stagflation risks

Caution should continue to be the watchword in Jackson Hole until the impact of Trump’s policies are better understood

21.08.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

What if Trump picks an inflation nutter for Fed chair?

With US checks and balances on the retreat, it is unwise to be an optimist

12.08.2025 4

Financial Times

Chris Giles

The kernels of truth in reports of a millionaires’ exodus

We do not know exactly how many people are leaving, but the corroborating evidence is mounting up

08.08.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Don’t believe the myth: Britain’s services have been hit hard by Brexit

Export growth has been strong but not lived up to its potential

10.07.2025 7

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Should we stop the UK’s best talent moving to London?

The capital has been skewing Britain’s economic geography for more than a century

27.06.2025 4

Financial Times

Chris Giles

A blizzard of figures from Reeves obscures the real political challenge

We have higher expectations of services than providers can offer from the taxes we actually want to pay

14.06.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

The world of work is much more pleasant than we expected

Longer effective working lives have so far offset ageing populations

28.05.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

How EV subsidies are taking the UK back to the 1970s

A cautionary tale about good intentions messing up the tax system

14.05.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Brexit lessons for Trump’s trade war

Big talk of holding all the cards looks even worse with the benefit of hindsight

01.05.2025 20

Financial Times

Chris Giles

The US, not others, will feel most pain from its economic mistakes

America is not the powerhouse it once was

21.04.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Britain’s fiscal framework is not fit for purpose

There is nothing accountable or legitimate about unelected officials setting taxation and spending policy

02.04.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

From miserable to mediocre: the Reeves challenge continues

History suggests the OBR may, once again, have been persuaded to be too optimistic at a time of global turmoil

26.03.2025 4

Financial Times

Chris Giles

What will be in Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement?

The chancellor’s ship is set to stay afloat despite choppy waters next week, but bigger threats lurk beyond

20.03.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Ten things you should know about Trump’s tariffs but were afraid to ask

No, Mr President, they are not going to make America rich, great or popular

05.03.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Britain’s productivity puzzle is turning into a crisis

If the data can be believed, the UK economy is losing its economic dynamism

19.02.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Trump amplifies the transatlantic economic divergence

Emerging policy differences will force looser monetary policy in Europe than in the US

06.02.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

On fiscal policy Rachel Reeves must show, not tell

The chancellor needs to act upon her tough rhetoric if she is to assuage bond markets

22.01.2025 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

The astonishing success of Eurozone bailouts

As Greek borrowing costs fall to French levels, the bloc’s ‘periphery’ shows the value of steady reform

11.12.2024 3

Financial Times

Chris Giles

The perils in the search for the perfect GDP alternative

Statistical agencies trip up when they attempt to weigh the values of good and bad in society

27.11.2024 7

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Rachel Reeves might come to rue her ‘read my lips’ moment

The UK chancellor could yet find herself forced to raise taxes again

13.11.2024 7

Financial Times

Chris Giles

The Budget should not be a big deal for interest rates

Bank of England has already had plenty of time to react to the chancellor’s thinking

31.10.2024 4

Financial Times

Chris Giles

How squeezing the rich through tax may backfire

If Britain is to have a more European welfare state, it needs a more European tax system

24.10.2024 5

Financial Times

Chris Giles

A ‘full fat’ Budget is impossible — what are the trade-offs?

Traditional Labour measures on tax and borrowing will need to be balanced with thinner fare to keep to fiscal constraints

18.10.2024 6

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Lessons in law and economics from the Next pay gap case

Companies need to be careful, but the judgment ultimately preserves market forces

09.10.2024 6

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Reeves should tackle excessively generous pensions taxation

The chancellor must be careful not to increase the damaging incentives in the tax system as she seeks sources of revenue

12.09.2024 3

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Forget the Budget — there’s a more important economic date coming up

An MPC meeting next month looks set to shape interest rates, normalise risk taking and kill a silly fiscal rule

29.08.2024 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles

The world can’t escape from a US economy that has lost its anchor

Financial markets are right to be jumpy ahead of November’s election

19.08.2024 4

Financial Times

Chris Giles

For Kamala Harris, it mustn’t be ‘the economy, stupid’

The Democratic candidate is well advised not to campaign on the Biden administration’s economic record

06.08.2024 3

Financial Times

Chris Giles

Reeves has more legacy junk to ditch as the Treasury sorts out its finances

The difficult reality is a recognition that we will have to spend more and get less than promised from public services

01.08.2024 10

Financial Times

Chris Giles