The Observatory Independent student-led analysis across economics, finance, politics and ideas. https://thenewsobservatory.com/ 2026-09-22T00:00:00Z Why Student Rents Keep Rising https://thenewsobservatory.com/articles/student-rents/ 2026-09-22T00:00:00Z Durham's rental market has a supply problem, and no amount of tenant frustration will fix it on its own. Xavier Khan Why Productivity Growth Has Become So Difficult https://thenewsobservatory.com/articles/why-productivity-growth-is-difficult/ 2026-09-19T00:00:00Z Output per hour has grown more slowly across the advanced economies since the mid-2000s. Economists agree on the pattern and disagree on almost everything else. Xavier Khan