economist

“Finding construction labor was hard before, and now it’s even harder,” economist Richard Green said.

Antoni is an economist at the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, and was previously at conservative research group Texas Public Policy Foundation.

The upcoming Budget has loomed over the conference, fuelling speculation of tax rises, which most economists think are likely.

Reeves is facing a difficult Budget, with economists warning tax rises or spending cuts will be needed for the chancellor to meet her self-imposed borrowing rules.

Then, this summer, a group of housing analysts, including an economist at Moody’s Analytics, came up with the strikingly low figure of just 56,000 — though the authors acknowledged that it’s probably an underestimate.