Prof. Martin Powell
Clash of the Titans Blog – Q2 2024
As students return to their academic endeavours, we too are back with an update from our Clash of the Titans economic forecasting competition. We’ll delve into the complexities of Q2’s economic variables, reflecting on another period of intriguing developments in the UK’s economic landscape. GDP Growth The UK’s economic performance in Q2 2024 has shown […]
Economic Challenges Facing the New Government
As the new government takes office, it faces an array of economic challenges that threaten to hinder progress. This blog post delves into the key economic hurdles Labour must overcome to steer the UK towards a more prosperous future. Stagnant Growth The UK economy faces a significant challenge with stagnant growth, a problem that has […]
A Return to Industrial Strategy
All but abandoned due to widespread fear of state intervention, industrial strategy has made a resurgence under the new Labour government. For all but a brief period under Theresa May’s leadership, since the 1980s, we’ve questioned whether we need industrial strategy at all, rather than what the strategy should be. But after years of erratic […]
Growth Through Planning Reform
Why have Labour placed planning reform at the heart of their growth strategy? The UK’s planning system faces significant challenges that hinder economic growth, including inefficiency, lengthy delays in processing applications, bureaucratic complexity, inconsistent decision-making by planning authorities, restrictive greenbelt policies, and strong local opposition. Additionally, many planning authorities are under-resourced, leading to inadequate handling […]
National Wealth Fund
The Labour Party’s proposed £7.3 billion National Wealth Fund (NWF) aims to address our chronic underfunding issue by injecting capital into key sectors such as ports, gigafactories, clean steel, carbon capture, and green hydrogen. While this initiative is a commendable step towards revitalising the economy and fostering sustainable growth, it raises critical questions about whether […]