Zombie utilities
‘Easy money’ (quantitative easing and low nominal/negative real interest rates) has left a legacy of lots of zombie companies that should not still be in business, because they are not genuinely profi...
24 Jul 202414min
Dash for growth means dash for debt
The Labour government is on a mission to grow the economy to pay for all the public expenditure needed. But where will this growth come from? Previous major economic growth (e.g. in Germany, Japan and...
23 Jul 202415min
The free-lunch election
The uninspiring ideas and promises from both main parties since the election was announced make for a depressing read. In trying to get our votes – promising not to put up taxes and to look after pens...
4 Jun 202411min
Privatisation casualties piling up
The privatisation casualties are starting to stack up – earlier failures included Railtrack, and more recently there is Thames Water. Royal Mail is struggling to deliver the post; Bulb and over half t...
23 Apr 202415min
Fudging the fiscal rules
The Labour Party, like the Conservatives, has committed to borrow only to invest, to fund current spending only from current income, and to get debt as a percentage of GDP down. As ever when it comes ...
25 Mar 202415min
Failing utilities – is special administration the solution?
What is to be done about the UK’s failing utilities? The current back-stop is special administration, opening up the possibility of wider restructuring. In all cases it is the structure that needs to ...
29 Feb 202414min
Fiddling the figures – iron fiscal rules are not what they seem
Iron fiscal rules that allow borrowing only for investment might seem like a sensible strategy, but the figures have repeatedly been fiddled to make the UK appear fiscally responsible. Both main polit...
19 Feb 202413min
Three energy policies
When it comes to addressing the trilemma of energy policy in the UK (net zero, energy security and customer affordability), there are three overall policy approaches. “Policy option 1” is about settin...
25 Jan 202415min
