UK Wealth, Editor at large, Bloomberg. Ex Ed in C @Moneyweek. Ex Columnist/Contrib Editor @FT Opinions personal. NED: THRG and Schroder https://nitter.cf/t.co/ojIBNzZwBO #SharePower
Joined August 2010
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Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
The "do no harm budget." UK has gov spending near 45% of GDP, debt near 100%. Tax revenue at levels never sustained in the UK before. Crazy fiscal drag. Concerning high income emigration. That's harm enough. Fiddling with cash ISAs and marmalade prices doesn't cut it.
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
Maybe the AI boom will work out exactly as the optimists forecast. That's nice. But what about the high income people who lose their jobs? And stop contributing to pensions. Markets are all about flows. pensions contributions are flows.. bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
What the King should really tell Commonwealth leaders thetimes.com/comment/columni…
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
This utterly bleak line from the Resolution Foundation on living standards in their overnight Budget analysis.
"Between now (2026-27) and the end of the Parliament (2028-29), typical incomes are forecast to fall in total by £1,050 (3 per cent)."
In other words: On average we'll be getting poorer in the run-up to the next election.
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
Mindblowing chart from OBR. In 2029 real household disposable income per person expected to be just 1% higher than in 2019. What an unbelievably awful decade. It used to grow by 2%+ every year, not 1% in 10 years.
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
The extraordinary rise in welfare spending continues
It is going to rise by £19billon this year (5.7 per cent) to £353billion, equivalent to ***11.1%*** of GDP, reaching 12.3% in 2031
It is being driven by a rise in health and mentions benefit spending
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
European Commission sounds the alarm (now !!!) about the number of oil refineries closing in the region over the last 20 years. "We need to counter this trend," says EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen. "This crisis is a wake-up call." Quite.
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
Re. the minimum wage hike: I wrote this piece about wage compression about 18 months ago, and it's only got worse since then. Will update the charts in a forthcoming newsletter. bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
This picture should be shared far & wide to explain wage compression
You have people with years experience earning a tiny amount more than minimum wage
It’ll push decline further as people will continue not to care about the country
There is no reward for improving ones self
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
In the final episode of The Portfolio Reset, Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek talk about how to build a diversified portfolio capable of responding to changing economics conditions. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
Student loans were sold to students as "you'll earn more, so it's only fair you pay some of that back towards your education cost"
Unless changed, of the five plans students are on - three of the repayment thresholds will now be *below* the minimum wage.
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
V important podcast - as rotation from tech to non tech gets going. Are you sure you know what's in your ETF? Did you it probs isn't either passive or diversified? Did you want to be a tech momentum investor (momentum goes both ways..)?bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
In light of the government's apparently new idea that you should have 3 days of supplies in hand in case of cyberattack, terrorism or the inevitable results of their appalling energy policy... a column on how actual physical cash is a MUST HAVE too. bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
Stop being polite to your AI agent. No more please and thank you. It's a machine not a person. Treat it like one. This really matters (for the future of humanity...) bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
We are at the part of the cycle where the bulls try to make even bad news sound like good news. But that never works for long... Also why to buy Romania, Anthropic and indulgences and why to buy investmetn trusts. bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
Has passive investing created a market where flows trump fundamentals? Could small caps turn out to be the ultimate anti-AI trade? And are we facing a new eurozone debt crisis? All in the Merryn Talks Money podcast this week bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
£89bn a year. £244m a day. £1,300 per person.
That’s Britain’s debt interest bill alone.
The IEA’s Alternative Budget sets out how simpler taxes and tighter spending could help tackle the problem. But even with these reforms, Britain would still be borrowing just to pay the interest by 2030 - 31.
Merryn Somerset Webb retweeted
Is deeply odd this profusion of people mocking the idea that people having basic supplies - food, water, some cash, wind-up radio - is somehow silly, a joke or weird. In countries such as Finland and Sweden this is absolutely standard, part of their “total defence” doctrine.
'You're so wrong!'
Should we prepare for potential food shortages and power cuts, or is it the Government’s job to protect us?
@IainDale, @Martha_Gill and @CarolineFlint debate.