Counting the Cost

Can the ‘back-to-work’ budget boost economic growth in the UK?

The finance minister has put getting Britons back into work at the heart of his plan for economic growth.

The United Kingdom’s economy is still in a worse state than it was before the pandemic.

One of the reasons: There are more than half a million British workers who have vanished from the workforce since the outbreak of COVID-19 despite unemployment being at a historic low.

The collapse in productivity has been a crippling blow to the struggling British economy. Now getting those lost employees back to work is at the centre of the finance minister’s budget plan.

Elsewhere, President Joe Biden has said the banking system in the United States is safe, but he’s also promised tougher regulations for banks.

And we take a look at Australia’s costly submarines.