We should not forget that we are not immune to what happens in global markets, and must remember to take a comparative perspective.
Any sincere reading of the British economy since 2010 need acknowledge one basic thing: that the essential problem with the modern economy isn’t income inequality, but a lack of income.
Growth is as much a political problem as it is an economic one. We need to spend vastly more time thinking about the trade-offs and compromises required to achieve it, how to sequence reforms, and which battles to pick and when.
Meaningful fiscal devolution within England would face huge opposition from Labour councils; anything else would not give town halls the incentive to undertake difficult reforms.
To their credit, ministers are trying to make some changes that will speed up the process. But there are fundamental changes needed, such as fixing environmental impact assessments.
Skills shortages are directly linked to transport shortages. It is possible that better transport connections linking our small towns to our major cities could do more for productivity and employment than almost any other initiative.
The merits of promoting heat pumps as the valid, logical alternative to gas boilers are two-fold: the moral argument of creating warmer, more liveable homes for Britons at a cheaper price, whilst also providing green growth.
The NHS which has seen its productivity collapse, and is facing enormous cost pressures as the population ages, must surely be first in line for the application of the tools as they emerge.
Introducing duty-free arrivals would support local economies, enhances the international competitiveness of our airports and aviation sector, and offers greater convenience to consumers – all without burdening the taxpayer.
It’s clearly time for a course-correction. Taxpayers are told repeatedly that you can have low taxes or high-quality public services. But at the moment, we have neither.
The system is all but designed to subsidise low wages, disincentivise productivity, and give retirees no stake in the UK maintaining a thriving, dynamic economy.
Still, the argument that tax cuts themselves lead to growth is one that the Conservative Party hasn’t been used to making since the days of David Cameron Mark One.
Unhappy employees take nearly two additional working weeks of sickness absence per year on average compared to their happy counterparts, and nearly one in ten have had sickness absences totalling more than a month in duration.
Our nation was hailed by the Economist as the “top-performing economy of 2023” for the second year in a row. That isn’t a turnaround, that’s a miracle – a miracle delivered by common sense.
If we want to get re-elected sooner rather than later, we should absorb the facts rather than the myths of 1979.