This article examines recent developments in household balance sheets using disaggregated data from an annual survey carried out by NMG Consulting on behalf of the Bank. The survey indicates that household debt levels remain well above historical averages, but are little changed since last year....

World trade’s dramatic collapse from the end of 2008 was emblematic of a globally synchronised recession that threatened to become a depression and of a financial crisis painfully transmitted to the real economy. The extent of the fall in world trade relative to that in world GDP and the...

This article reviews the main influences on broad money growth since the onset of the global crisis, focusing on the impact of the Monetary Policy Committee’s asset purchase programme (QE). The underlying weakness in money growth is likely to have reflected a combination of reduced nominal...