Businesses and employees are only responding to monetary conditions set by the Bank of England, where the real responsibility lies.
Ministers really seem to have thought they could simply spend their way to high wages and stronger productivity.
We need a supply-side strategy from the whole of government to produce more energy, food, and other goods and services.
As the man himself famously did not say: “When the facts change, I find new reasons to advocate for stimulus packages.”
“A government of the moment would use the great powers it has to tackle this head-on. Bring forward an emergency budget!”
Better to actually fix housing costs and student loan repayments than devise a complex subsidy.
“People should know that we will stand by them, as we have throughout the last two years.”
The first in a series of articles on how the Chancellor should approach the upcoming Spring Statement.
Focusing on state sanctions risks understating the scale of the West’s economic response to Vladimir Putin’s war.
Higher interest rates may slow the world economy later this year and early next. Recession is even possible for the UK.
Watch in particular for interaction between Ukrainian refugees and small boats as the year lengthens.
Administrative bottlenecks, a risk-averse institutional culture, and London’s famously litigious environment are all drag factors.
“We must put all our energies into three priorities: Capital. People. Ideas. And if we can do that, then we can rejuvenate our national productivity.”
Without it, we won’t be able to have better public services, less debt and lower deficits, or a fairer deal for younger people.
Closer engagement between government and the sector is vital to ensure we deliver the policies they need most.