The triple-lock rule poses a post-pandemic problem
Statistical quirks could land the government with a pricey pensions bill
THE METHODOLOGY used to calculate economic data rarely receives much attention, but then statistical quirks do not usually come with a £4.4bn ($6bn, or 0.2% of GDP) annual bill. Yet that is what taxpayers may be landed with by the interaction between the “triple lock”, used to increase state pensions, and artificially strong earnings figures as Britain’s economy recovers from covid-19.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Triple trouble”
Britain June 26th 2021
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- After Brexit, devolution in Northern Ireland is in a parlous state
- Labour could lose a by-election over the issue of Palestine
- Eels are in crisis, but hope is coming on-stream
- The triple-lock rule poses a post-pandemic problem
- Britain proposes—again—to privatise Channel 4
- Britain, a diverse country for decades, is now superdiverse
- Britain’s government says it wants an economic boom
From the June 26th 2021 edition
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