Our macroeconomic reliance on debt, and the focus on aggregate demand, is based upon a wide Keynesian consensus.
Less attention is paid to the savings that must provide the funding for investment, the centrality of assets and importance of the core infrastructure systems – natural and conventional. Microeconomic principles, such as the polluter pays and public money for public goods, provide guides for developing sustainable government policies.
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Podcast 83: The energy security gap
The International Energy Agency, at its recent ministerial meeting (Feb 18th/19th), agreed on one top priority: energy security. Hybrid warfare, cyber-attacks and the ease with which modern energy infrastructure can be disrupted underscore the urgency of the issue. The UK’s current approach – reducing domestic gas production, increasing reliance on imported LNG (liquefied natural gas),… Read more…
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Podcast 82: Back to the 1950s
Several key industries have fallen back to production levels last seen in the 1950s. Car production has dropped to its 1952 level at around 700,000 vehicles a year—down by nearly 1 million in a decade—while steel is a shadow of its former output. Even cement is falling back, being increasingly switched to imports. Housebuilding is… Read more…
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Podcast 81: What nationalisation really means
Many people in the Labour Party support bringing utilities like water (in particular, Thames Water) and electricity transmission back into public ownership. Supporters often present nationalisation as a simple fix: no greedy investors, no dividends, and lower bills. But, in reality, nationalisation is far more complicated and involves real trade-offs that are often glossed over. Financial… Read more…
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Podcast 80: Five reasons why growth is so elusive
As 2026 begins, and people look ahead to what it might bring, this podcast focuses on the likely, more profound, economic and geopolitical shifts expected by 2030 – now less than five years’ away. Immediate questions revolve around UK elections, leadership changes, and ongoing conflicts like Ukraine and Taiwan, but infrastructure, technology and economic planning… Read more…
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Podcast 79: Five reasons why growth is so elusive
Why is it that this government, and its predecessors, find economic growth so hard to attain? In the UK, it remains stubbornly low for a number of reasons, and these are not the ones that the current government is currently blaming. First, governments avoid hard choices and spread resources too thinly. As Tony Blair said… Read more…
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Podcast 74: Water – what to do after Cunliffe?
Few people have much good to say about the water industry, and the blame game is fully engaged. But what to do? There are four possible options: continue with minimal reform; implement the recommendations of the recent Independent Commission on Water, led by Sir Jon Cunliffe; nationalise the industry; or adopt a catchment-based regulatory model.… Read more…
