View from the Tent
renowned economist Douglas McWilliams and his friend of 30 plus years Neil McClure ponder on national and local economic and business affairs from their base in the heart of Kent. In addition to Douglas's reflections on economic events, Neil will seek to lift the lid on local businesses and industries Each podcast ends with a review of one of Kent's 50 vineyards providing a mellow close to their observations
View from the Tent
Farming is not all about growing things
In this episode Douglas reviews the current economic events including President Trump's favourite word Tariffs, the continued economic fall out of the last UK budget and the implications of the recent fall in base rate and finishes off by reviewing a piece of research published exclusvely by From the Tent in association with Howard Cox of Fair Fuel UK. In this research Douglas identifies the economic impact of potholes in the road for our economy and the immediate win win to boost growth if the Chancellor addressed this issue rather than chasing over-the -horizon projects like Heathrow runways.
Neil focuses this week on Farming in Kent and after providing an overview on its economic importance to Kent looks at how farmers are having to diversify and their eagerness to make their land available to meet the governments greeen energy challenge with new solar farms, battery storage and onshore windfarms. While many local residents in Kent deplore this development it seems that Farmers must seek the best economic return and in particular trade the certainty of rental income for the uncertainty of weather affected Harvests
Douglas and Neil finish off by previewing another one of the wines produced by Kent vineyards, this time The 2017 Vintage Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine from the Squerryes Vineyard outside Westerham.
A Weekly Snapshot of National and Local Economic and Business News
From The Heart of Kent