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Phil Thornton

Phil Thornton is a journalist and consultant covering all areas of business and economics, including macroeconomics, world trade, financial markets and tax and regulation.

<p>Ordinary Russians could lose confidence in the banking system</p>
Business

We have to learn the lessons of the past over sanctions

<p>Sharp rates rises from the Bank of England could trigger a fresh downturn </p>
Business

A steep hike in interest rates would be a mistake

<p>Next month members of the RMT union working on the London Underground will go on strike</p>
Business

What does pressure over wages mean when it comes to industrial action?

<p>The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has some decisions to make </p>
Business

Britain should borrow so we can build back better

<p>The Bank of England’s chief economist has called for a more measured and ‘steady handed’ approach to raising UK interest rates amid uncertainty over energy prices and inflation (PA)</p>
Business

We won’t solve the cost-of-living crisis if we can’t measure it

<p>The prospect of higher interest rates in the US will incentivise capital to flow overseas</p>
Business

Challenging times still lie ahead for the global economy

<p>Boris Johnson must act fast if he wants to stay in the top post </p>
Business

Political turmoil will eventually harm business and the economy

<p>Rising energy bills are adding to householders’ woes </p>
Business

Rising inequality in the UK will become an electoral battleground

<p>Golden opportunity: the Queen celebrates 50 years on the throne in 2002 </p>
Business

A jubilee year is a perfect time for debt forgiveness

<p>The cost of energy bills will be on the minds of many </p>
Business

Market failures make the case for nationalisation of energy and water

<p>Supply chain issues could continue well into next year </p>
Business

The economic clouds on the horizon for 2022

<p>Annual house price growth hit 10 per cent in November, according to Nationwide Building Society (Gareth Fuller/PA)</p>
Business

As house prices rise, now is the time for property market reform

<p>Ports, such have this one in LA, have worked hard to try and clear up global supply issues </p>
Business

We need to rethink the economic rules around supply chains

Business

We need to rethink the economic rules around supply chains

<p>Ports, such have this one in LA, have worked hard to try and clear up global supply issues </p>
<p>‘It is not only selfish not to share vaccines when many countries have a surplus, but it is very short-sighted’ </p>
Business

Omicron is a reminder of our economic vulnerability over Covid-19

<p>The US president decided to keep markets calm by handing Jerome Powell an extra term as Federal Reserve chairman </p>
Business

Biden should look to Britain and Europe for Federal Reserve reform

<p>Brexit is far from done </p>
Business

Why Brexit has never gone away for business

<p>Climate activists protest over fossil-fuel use and inaction during Cop26 in Glasgow</p>
Business

Why central banks must now become the saviours of the climate crisis

<p>Climate activists protest over fossil-fuel use and inaction during Cop26 in Glasgow</p>
Business

Why central banks must now become the saviours of the climate crisis

<p>A protester in Glasgow, the host city for Cop26 </p>
Business

Climate is changing behaviour – and business must react

<p>The challenge of Cop26 is to turn optimism into action</p>
Business

Rich nations must mend broken trust over climate at Cop26

<p>Rishi Sunak says a 1 percentage point rise in both inflation and interest rates could cost the exchequer £25bn a year</p>
News analysis

Ignore the big sums – there are painful trade-offs to come

<p>Georgieva was accused of putting pressure on staff to alter data to favour China</p>
News analysis

Row at IMF and World Bank shows need for wider leadership gene pool

News analysis

Stagflation fears require firm action to quell panic

<p>Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel haven’t always seen eye to eye, but the PM cannot afford a decline in relations when the incoming administration takes office </p>
News analysis

Germany must now be on the UK’s economic radar

<p>No 10 must use all its financial muscle and legal powers to push through changes </p>
News analysis

Solving a crisis – energy or climate – needs big government

<p>Only 33 per cent of the public express themselves happy with the Bank of England’s performance </p>
News analysis

Bank of England in the spotlight as interest rate debate heats up

<p>Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel haven’t always seen eye to eye, but the PM cannot afford a decline in relations when the incoming administration takes office </p>
News analysis

Germany must now be on the UK’s economic radar

<p>No 10 must use all its financial muscle and legal powers to push through changes </p>
News analysis

Solving a crisis – energy or climate – needs big government

<p>Only 33 per cent of the public express themselves happy with the Bank of England’s performance </p>
News analysis

Bank of England in the spotlight as interest rate debate heats up

<p>The size of the state, with higher taxes and more spending, is set to be permanently made bigger by the UK government’s social care reforms, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (Joe Giddens/PA)</p>
News analysis

It is not whether taxes will go up – but who will pay

News analysis

It is not whether taxes will go up – but who will pay

<p>The size of the state, with higher taxes and more spending, is set to be permanently made bigger by the UK government’s social care reforms, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (Joe Giddens/PA)</p>
<p>Overseas investors are circling over supermarket chain Morrisons </p>
Business

Will there be an end to selling England by the pound?

<p>Economist John Maynard Keynes proposed a supranational currency called a ‘bancor’ in 1940</p>
Business

We can no longer deny the need for a global currency

<p>Afghans queue to collect money from an ATM in front of a bank in Kabul after the Taliban takeover</p>
News analysis

Afghans face economic turmoil if west fails again

<p>Investments in projects like HS2 are key for long-term growth, but should not be prioritised over investment in people</p>
News analysis

Biden’s gamble shows soft power is key to Johnson’s ‘level up’ plan

<p>Investments in projects like HS2 are key for long-term growth, but should not be prioritised over investment in people</p>
News analysis

Biden’s gamble shows soft power is key to Johnson’s ‘level up’ plan

<p>The UK has relied for too long on an exclusively market-led model of housing delivery</p>
Voices

Something has to be done about the UK’s pressure-cooker housing market

<p>Richard Nixon (1913-1994) in a room at the Dorchester Hotel in London on 7 August 1963</p>
Voices

The global economy is not flexible enough – crazy ideas are needed

<p>When David Brent was at his peak, the office was an object of contempt and even dread for many of its occupants</p>
Business

The days of the traditional office are numbered

<p>Boris Johnson in Aberdeen this week, during his two-day visit to Scotland</p>
Voices

Economic reality exposes the government’s ‘levelling up’ myth

<p>The Bank has warned inflation could rise to 4 per cent by the end of 2021</p>
News analysis

Why the Bank must not bow to pressure to tighten monetary policy

<p>A boy from a remote tribe stands on a dried-up river bed in Kenya made worse by climate change</p>
Independent Premium

Covid-19 gives governments a timely cover for action on climate

<p>Cuts to overseas aid and to the wallets of Britain’s poorest will further undermine Boris Johnson’s attempt to revive the levelling up agenda</p>
Business

Culture war against the needy is bad economics and flawed politics

<p>Rising numbers of cases could lead to a lack of consumer confidence </p>
News analysis

You can’t save the economy without protecting the people

<p>With prices rising across all regions, the emphasis is currently more on ‘up’ than on ‘levelling’</p>
Business

Young people will pay the penalty for the growing house price bubble

<p>Bezos inspects New Shepard’s west Texas launch facility before his Blue Orbit rocket’s maiden voyage</p>
News analysis

Bezos’s space trip is a sign that the time for a wealth tax has come

News analysis

Interest rates will have to rise but focus must be on jobs and growth

News analysis

Interest rates will have to rise but focus must be on jobs and growth

<p>Oxfam activists wearing papier mache heads representing G7 leaders perform during a protest near Falmouth</p>
News analysis

Fooled again? G7 leaders missed an opportunity to raise their game

Bailey has been announced the new Bank of England governor
News analysis

Andrew Bailey faces a host of challenges as next Bank of England chief

Bank of England
Business

Economist calls for interest rate cut despite higher GDP growth

Back to the grind: Britons work on average 43 hours a week
Features

Would British people (and the economy) be healthier if we worked a

Back to the grind: Britons work on average 43 hours a week
Features

Would British people (and the economy) be healthier if we worked a

Comment

Channel 4 isn't edgy or educational, it takes advantage of the

British musicians Miss Dynamite (5th L) and Charlie Simpson (6th L) join unemployed young people as they stand in line outside a job centre in central London during a photocall for the Battlefront Campaign
Comment

Less than Zero: Zero-hours contracts are just the latest means of

1971: Supporters of Liverpool FC on the terraces during a semi-final match against Everton in the FA cup.
Comment

In a culture still rife with homophobia, Liverpool FC's 'banned words'

Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey (Front Row L) votes during the third day of the annual Trade Union Congress (TUC) in central London, on September 14, 2011.
Comment

Union City Blues: Falkirk wasn't a wake up call for Labour, it was a

The coffin of murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby is carried by soldiers after his funeral service at Bury Parish church in Greater Manchester
Comment

On the day of Lee Rigby's funeral, let's really ask how we can stop

Festival-goers walk through rubbish close to The Pyramid Stage as they leave following the Glastonbury festival near Glastonbury, Somerset, on June 27, 2011.
Comment

Glastonbury Festival 2013: A Guide to Glastonomics

Used needles litter the ground outside an abandoned building where many addicts live August 20, 2007 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Comment

Smack is back in Liverpool - but at least the approach to treating

Skint, Channel 4
Comment

Chav-o-Vision programmes like C4's 'Skint' and BBC3's 'People Like Us'

Business News

Bank and ECB leave interest rates unchanged

Business News

Fears of war in Iraq and weak economies deal double whammy to global

Business News

Housing stays buoyant as Nationwide reports biggest price rise since

Business News

Housing stays buoyant as Nationwide reports biggest price rise since

Business News

US interest rates expected to drop to 1960s level

News

Branson's hot air blast defeats Chinese

News

Calamity threatens New Orleans

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