Long Term and Short Term Interest Rates in the United Kingdom

Benzodiazepines and Z-drugs (BZDs), hypnotic drugs used for insomnia and anxiety, are prescribed millions of times a year in the UK. Although guidance from the relevant regulatory authorities (NICE and BNF) indicates them only for short-term use, the evidence suggests that many patients have been taking these drugs for much longer, often for decades. At present, there are no up-to-date, evidence-based estimates of the scale of long-term BZD use in the UK, which has prevented making a strong case for the need for withdrawal services. However, data obtained recently on BZD use from a number of GP surgeries (covering nearly 100,000 registered patients) in the North of England, allow such projections to be calculated. Scaling the results to a national level suggests that there are over a quarter of a million patients in the UK using BZDs for periods far longer than recommended. The projections also suggest that nearly half this number may be willing to accept help to stop their dependency on BZDs. These results indicate a serious problem, which should be addressed by more research into the harms associated with long-term BZD use, the provision of withdrawal services, and a national helpline to support patients with BZD dependency.

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MODELING NONLINEAR AND HETEROGENEOUS DYNAMIC LINKS IN INTERNATIONAL MONETARY MARKETS

Macroeconomic Dynamics ◽

10.1017/s136510051100037x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 16 (S2) ◽

pp. 232-251 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Mohamed El Hedi Arouri ◽

Fredj Jawadi ◽

Duc Khuong Nguyen

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Interest Rate ◽

Interest Rates ◽

Error Correction ◽

The United States ◽

Central Banks ◽

Short Term ◽

Error Correction Models ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Dynamic Links

We use daily short-term interbank interest rates of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States to examine the dynamic links of international monetary markets from 2004 to 2009. Results from vector error-correction models and smooth-transition error-correction models show strong evidence of nonlinear and heterogeneous causalities between the three interest rates. We also find that changes in the U.S. interest rate deviations from the long-run equilibrium led those in France and in the United Kingdom by one to two days. Finally, the national interest rate nexus appears to converge in nonlinear fashion toward a steady state because it is subject to structural change beyond a certain rate threshold. Our findings have important implications for the actions of leading central banks (ECB, Bank of England, and U.S. Fed) because the joint behavior of short-term interest rates can be viewed as an indicator of the degree of central banks' policy interdependence.

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Commentary: The Savings-Investment Balance: Is there a UK investment shortfall?

National Institute Economic Review ◽

10.1177/0027950106067036 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 196 ◽

pp. 4-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Martin Weale

Keyword(s):

Interest Rates ◽

Yield Curve ◽

The United States ◽

Short Term ◽

The Past ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

The World ◽

Short And Long Term ◽

Low Levels

In the first half of this decade, the world experienced a period of low short and long-term interest rates. Shortterm rates have risen from these low levels, first in Canada and the United Kingdom, then in the United States and finally in the Euro Area. Long-term rates, by contrast, remained low, suggesting that holders of longterm debt expected the rise in short-term rates to be only temporary. Only in the past few months has the apparently anomalous pricing of long-term debt started to disappear. But with interest rates on long-term debt similar to short-term market rates internationally, the market does not yet show that the traditional upwardsloping yield curve and, on this basis, long rates remain depressed. They are also markedly below the levels of two to three years ago.

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Demographic and economic factors of labour supply: Long-term projections and policy options for France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom

Vienna Yearbook of Population Research ◽

10.1553/s83 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2009 ◽

pp. 83-122 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Serguey Ivanov

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Labour Supply ◽

Economic Factors ◽

Policy Options ◽

The United Kingdom

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