“There is something important missing: a compelling vision of where the country is heading beyond sorting out the fiscal mess; a clear and confident message about how we will earn our living in future.”

This was the frank admission in a letter from Vince Cable to the Prime Minister and Nick Clegg which appeared in last week’s FT (£).  The business secretary also urged the coalition to look beyond the electoral cycle and adopt a more strategic long-term approach which looks 10 to 20 years ahead.  At the heart of this approach is nurturing emerging industries whilst also anticipating potential structural threats to key existing industrial sectors. (more…)

Technorati Tags: growth agenda, industrial policy, The Bootstrap Recovery, vince cable

That is the verdict from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in a newly released report.  Central to this rapid growth of the web economy will be the shift towards ubiquitous and mobile web access, the massive increase of internet users in emerging G20 nations (from 238 million in 2005 to 1.39 billion in 2015) and an explosion of global IP traffic and data (30 exabytes per year in 2005 to 966 exabytes in 2015). (more…)

Technorati Tags: boston consulting group, web economy

David Smith, the Economics editor of the Sunday Times, wrote a typically insightful piece on Sunday in which he explored two of the most fundamental questions for the UK economy over the next few years:

1. Will UK productivity growth – i.e. output per worker – resume its earlier upward trend?
2. Is the damage to the economy from the crisis and recession as bad and as permanent as feared?

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Technorati Tags: David Smith, growth, productivity, Sunday Times

The Christmas break provided a brief respite from the almost continuous stream of negative news about the state of the world economy.  As you would expect, it hasn’t taken long for the Christmas cheer to be swiftly replaced with some New Year pessimism!

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Technorati Tags: economic growth, productivity

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) figures released this week confirm what we all knew – growth will be slower, borrowing higher and the recovery will take longer than we had hoped.  What fosters even more uncertainty is the fact that the forecasts are based on the assumption that policymakers find a solution to the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.  Given that a resolution seems as far away as ever, further downgrades to growth forecasts seem almost certain. (more…)

Technorati Tags: Ed Balls, George Osborne, growth review, Office for Budget Responsibility, productivity

Given the level of economic uncertainty, the fevered interest in today’s autumn statement came as no surprise.  The Chancellor’s political and economic credibility is bound up with sticking to plan A, so any deviation would inevitably be pounced on by his critics as a sign that his plan is not working.  It is clear that George Osborne has no intention of abandoning Plan A, but as he will be acutely aware, he has to be seen as doing more than just tackling the deficit.  He has to be seen to be going for growth too.  (more…)

Technorati Tags: Autumn statement, Ed Balls, George Osborne

As ever it’s been a dramatic week in Westminster.  We’ve had the resignation of Liam Fox as Defence Secretary, the Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell has announced that he will retire at the end of the year, the government’s controversial Health and Social Care bill has inched closer to the statute book and Oliver Letwin was spotted dumping assorted correspondence into a variety of bins in St James’s Park. (more…)

Technorati Tags: Bank of England, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell, Defence Secretary, economic growth, Health and Social Care bill, Oliver Letwin, Resignation of Liam Fox, Sir Mervyn King, UK businesses

George Osborne went on the front foot yesterday at the Conservative Party Conference telling his critics “Don’t tell me this Government isn’t going for growth.”  Those concerned at the Government’s plan for growth include some even in his own party.  Perhaps most notable in this is Andrew Tyrie (chair of the influential Treasury select committee), who said in an interview with the Times before the conference that the Government’s plan in places lacked “coherence and consistency.” (more…)

Technorati Tags: conservative party conference, George Osborne, growth

Nick Clegg’s speech yesterday at the London School of Economics provided another opportunity for a leading government figure to argue that the coalition are not just all about cuts and are very much focused on growth. The Deputy Prime Minister was brutally frank about the scale of the economic challenge facing the UK and the global economy and admitted that the situation is worse than it was 6 months ago.

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Technorati Tags: growth, infrastructure, LSE, Nick Clegg

George Osborne and his ministerial team faced their first set of Treasury questions after the summer recess in the House of Commons yesterday. Top on the agenda was economic growth and it will be this issue that will come to dominate the political landscape over the next few months. The Chancellor reiterated his commitment to his deficit reduction strategy. He insists that the recovery was always going to be choppy and that there is no need for a ‘Plan B’. The Labour opposition, and the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls in particular, argue that the Government are going ‘too fast, too soon’ with their deficit reduction plan and are stifling demand in the economy as a result.

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Technorati Tags: George Osborne, growth strategy