Stuart Patrick: Why we must pay attention to our foundational economy heraldscotland.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heraldscotland.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Growth figures don t tell us what we really need to know about economy
Historic falls in GDP are a distraction from key issues including the future of the labour market and the long-term impact of Brexit
Coronavirus lockdowns have devastated the UK s economic growth
Expect an avalanche of headlines on Friday when UK statisticians finally deliver their verdict on the plague year that was 2020 – but don’t expect to discover what we really need to know about our post-Covid economy.
You’ll be hearing a lot about the Great Frost of 1709 (again) as the Office for National Statistics publishes estimates for GDP in the final quarter and across 2020 overall. Its figures, however, will provoke more heat than light.