Recession Follow

Workers were sacked without proper notice

New era of austerity

Taxes on the rich can raise far more

A new recession is upon us

Bankers were crowing at the end of October when it was revealed that “only” 25 Eurozone banks failed stress tests conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB). The tests, which looked at how banks would cope with adverse economic conditions, highlighted particular problems for the troubled Italian economy, where nine banks failed, but gave the...

October's market jitters show how confidence in the recovery can flip into panic. But what underlies the turmoil?

Conflicting figures and competing forecasts for Britain make confusing reading for anyone trying to make sense of what is going on in the economy. In early autumn 2013 chancellor George Osborne was trumpeting economic recovery, but between October and November 2013 there was a sudden slump of output in construction, and manufacturing flatlined. By January...

The news that Vauxhall in Ellesmere Port is to move to a four-day week, albeit with no cut in basic working hours, highlights the predicament facing the UK motor industry. The industry appeared to have recovered from the worst of the recession.

The world suffered the economic equivalent of a heart attack in 2008-9, triggered by the collapse of the Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers. The current condition of the global economy isn't as acute. But a raft of bad economic data over the last couple of months point to a patient whose breathing is starting to become much more irregular.

Considering the state of the UK economy, the figures for employment appear to present a paradox. While GDP has fallen by around 4 percent since the start of the slump in early 2008, employment is down by less than 1 percent over the same timescale. And the latest official figures show that employment has actually increased over recent months. What is going on? How can the economy have flat-lined, while employment seems to be holding up?

The crisis in Europe has entered a new phase. 2008 saw the onset of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. In 2010, and especially from 2011, there was a marked upswing in resistance, with a series of mass strikes in Greece, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium and Britain, and the rise of the indignados in Portugal, Spain and Greece last spring and then the Occupy movement in the autumn.

The depth of the devastation of ordinary American lives means that the divisions between workers and protesters that existed in the 1960s have collapsed, writes Megan Trudell

The global economy is entering "a dangerous new phase", said the International Monetary Fund before its annual meeting last month. The same can be said for the European Union (EU) and the eurozone.

There is now much discussion about whether the British economy is heading back into recession.

Jane Hardy takes issue with a new study which claims that workers haven't suffered too badly in the recession

Bankers and bosses appeared cheerful at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos. But the state of the global economy remains precarious

The spending review comes at a time of high international tension, as governments around the world compete to escape economic ruin. Jane Hardy analyses the global "currency wars".

The Con-Dem coalition has launched an all-out assault on the public sector and the welfare state in the name of reducing the budget deficit. What will be the impact of these austerity measures? Judith Orr looks at the risk of a double dip recession - and the possibilities of resistance.

The post-election period will be dominated by the dire state of the British economy. While the political elite are desperate to make us pay for the crisis, they are also paralysed by the fear of a renewed recession precipitated by speculation against the pound. Joseph Choonara reports

Pigs. It's not an insult as such, but that depends on what it's referring to.

Britain is likely to see some weak and fragile economic recovery in early 2010, but the crisis will continue to shape politics in the months ahead.

A poll conducted after the Tory party conference last month showed that they were down one percentage point over the previous month, while Labour was up three points.

The current bickering between the three major parties about cuts in public spending started with accusations being tossed between them over who was going to make the cuts and who wasn't. But now consensus has been reached.

Economic "reforms" for increased growth are often justified by the ruling class as being good for everyone. But what is the truth behind the statistics?