JY

Josh Simons has perfectly summed up the problem of 21st century politics: "One of the problems with our politics now is that is that we have become so constantly driven by avoiding the worst thing that can happen. We're just terrified of risk, obsessed with process and managerialism and all the rest of it. I think people are fed up with that too....We always miss out on the best things that can happen because we are so frightened of the worst things."

Great piece by @ChrisGiles_ Very simple key point: private investment is almost 5 times as big as public investment - so low and stable interest rates are the most powerful growth policy available to the UK right now.

UK VAT law is bonkers - exhibit 94

Absolutely outstanding community note here.

@paulpogba @ANSUFATI

Non stop 😤☀️

@timleunig "Vote winning policies" - when have popular economic policies ever worked for Britain?

Backed up by PublicFirst economics and polling we will create new ideas that will both work and be supported not only across the political spectrum, but in the country at large. The aim is vote winning policies that work in the medium and long term, and have popular appeal.

The most exciting thing for me this week is the launch of the 2030 Prosperity Alliance. Run by my Public First colleague and old friend, @PJTheEconomist, it is a non-political group that aims to get Britain going again.

They gotta de-register you as a professional footballer for getting beat by a Ronnie stepover in 2024 ngl

Maybe sit this one out, @campbellclaret . 🙄

The "British mind" truly is a masterclass in wanting to have your cake and eat it, too. They've spent years shouting from the rooftops that universities are bloated, inefficient relics that shouldn't see a single extra penny of taxpayer money. They mock students for taking on debt, telling them it's their own private investment, and then act shocked when those same institutions, forced to survive as businesses, start looking for customers who can actually pay the bills. It is a spectacular display of circular logic, they refuse to fund the schools because "they don't benefit everyone," but then we get outraged when they find a way to stay afloat without it. You can't starve an institution of public air and then complain when it starts breathing through a private straw. This irrationality becomes even more glaring when you look at how they treat international students, particularly those from China, who have become the convenient villain in the latest headlines. These students are effectively the primary benefactors of the British higher education system, often paying two to three times the tuition of a home student. They are quite literally subsidizing the training of British scientists and engineers. They bring massive amounts of disposable income into the local economy, and for the most part, they are eager to take that expertise back home rather than "taking jobs" here. (Everything the right accuses international students of, well it is hard to sell any of it on Chinese students). Yet, instead of being seen as the financial lifeline that keeps the lights on at Oxford or Imperial, they are framed as a threat or a symptom of "reckless self-neglect". It’s the ultimate "foreigner bar argument" reached through mindless contradiction. They want the prestige of elite science hubs, but they don't want to pay for them. They want international capital to save our struggling campuses, but they don't want the international students to actually show up and sit in the seats.

Odd considering who her dad was. But it’s high time we cared (and spoke) less about ‘media performance’ - when it’s all said & done, voters will care about output, not slogans.

To uprate the state pension by 4.8% and freeze the student loan repayment threshold is one hell of a reveal of the political economy in the UK (and most other DMs).

It was great to catch up with my old friend and the UK’s (relatively!) new Ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson @UKinUSA.

One not to be so afraid of sounding “quasi-woke” that one cannot agree with Russell Moore on this.

Sensible & nuanced take on the "student loan crisis"

@dekiteshim @exRAF_Al An A is still needed at a level math to get in, to be fair

@exRAF_Al oxford ppe grads are mathematically incompetent bcs you can literally opt out of the “e” after first year. hardly any cover econometrics or quantitative economics. it’s a fugazi degree for political strivers

A reminder. Dominic Cummings was right on the money all those years ago when he forensically analysed why a particular type of person from a particular type of job or career went into politics, and why some didn’t. ‘Incisive’ isn’t the word.

‘The glory of Christianity is its claim that small things really matter and that the small company, the very few, the one man, the one woman, the one child are of infinite worth to God’ +Michael Ramsey, as relevant as ever.

PS - The fact that the media was informed of the NEC decision before I was tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days. You would think that over 30 years of service would count for something but sadly not. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Agree - and enjoying this take that the real fare dodgers are the baby boomers:

UK productivity is rocketing, according to The Resolution Foundation. And it's mostly down to "creative destruction" - rising bankruptcies and job losses. Interesting. Was this the whole point of the "Reeves Squeeze"? Answers on a postcard... bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Thé same corruption (or frankly softened version of football that lends to bad officiating) is being played into by Senegal now that they’re 1-0 up.