Life is good for baby boomers. And Jeremy Hunt plans to make it even better

Over-60s are richer thanks to high interest rates and well-performing pension funds. And the Tory voters among them will look kindly on a chancellor who helps out by cutting inheritance tax

Why UK chancellor should avoid inheritance tax sugar rush in budget

Slashing the headline rate may offer short-term gains, but the responsible route may be better bet for Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt fuels election speculation as 6 March spring budget announced

Chancellor has asked the OBR to prepare forecasts for the economy and public finances to be presented to parliament

How a spring UK budget could fire the starting gun for an early election

UK economic prospects are bleak but an agenda-setting fiscal event such as sweeping tax cuts in March offers another roll of the dice

The Observer view on Tory economic policy: only active public investment will cure Britain’s ills

The government’s reliance on the private sector has led to a UK economy on the brink of recession and a crumbling state

Party paupers: Nigeria’s financial crisis puts the brakes on ‘Detty December’ celebrations

Lagos loves to wine, dine and dance in the month leading up to Christmas, but soaring prices and rampant inflation mean would-be revellers are staying home

Royal Mail has been heading for collapse for years. Now it can’t even deliver my Christmas present

It’s too late to reverse this disastrous privatisation, but regulators can be made to enforce its contracts to the letter, says the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

The Guardian view on the EU at a crossroads: time for new economic thinking

Editorial: Plans to reintroduce the straitjacket of fiscal rules, at a time when the union faces exceptional challenges, are a mistake

Starmer’s £28bn green pledge is a vote winner. Labour must ignore Tory attacks and keep the faith

Strategists are getting nervous, but energy efficiency and kickstarting growth are important to voters, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Rishi Sunak has little to celebrate as cost of living crisis enters a new phase

The inflation shock may be fading but 13 years of Conservative-led governments haven’t

‘Prison or bullet’: new Argentina government promises harsh response to protest

President Javier Milei and his allies are preparing new security guidelines in anticipation of protests against currency devaluation

Old-fashioned capitalism can’t help Britain’s lost workers get back in a job

The drive to make ill and disabled people productive again needs joined-up thinking, not a punitive regime of sanctions

Inflation and pay deals leave Scottish ministers facing £1.5bn budget black hole

Situation facing finance minister described as ‘one of most challenging fiscal backdrops’ since devolution

The Guardian view on economic stagnation: a chronic syndrome causing toxic politics

Editorial: The prolonged absence of growth causes social divisions that the Conservatives would rather exploit than address

Signals are flashing red for Rishi Sunak’s economic growth pledge

Bank of England and Niesr have not forecast a recession but October fall in GDP may suggest one is on the way