Macroeconomics: UK economy, IB Economics

This Larry Elliott piece looks at the double-edged nature of mass immigration. On the one hand, if it weren't for immigration, the UK economy would probably be shrinking, not growing. However, the flip side of this is that sizeable net migration puts immense pressure on the UK's infrastructure, notably the housing market. 

Longer term, in the absence of immigration, the UK's going to need massive investment in the NHS and social care, and a coherent industrial policy focused on increasing the skills of the labour force. 

A really interesting article about net migration. We've still got net immigration but the composition of it has changed: the number of EU migrants has fallen to the lowest level in 10 years, but the number of non-EU migrants is at its highest for 15 years. Either way the size of the working population is rising, and this is good for potential growth.

But it also poses a bit of a conundrum. Did the people who voted for Brexit want to see this? There's been no reduction in net inward migration and non-EU migration has risen. I'm not convinced that they did - then again, this sort of migration is not a story that plays well as headline news. 

The excellent Jonathan Portes with a summary of the government's proposed immigration reforms. He's actually more optimistic than I expected but there are still grounds for concern, particularly if politics gets in the way of the implementation of policy.