Might be of interest to @shanebrownie.bsky.social @dsmitheconomics.bsky.social @abbyinnes.bsky.social @greenmirandahere.bsky.social @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social

Worth watching this Economist podcast with @duncanrobinson.bsky.social on the UK's relationship with the EU and the UK's ongoing PTSD www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn-G...

Why the OBR will downgrade UK productivity growth – Again. www.creditcapitaladvisory.com/2025/12/04/why-the-obr-will-downgrade-uk-productivity-growth-again/ 🧵on last week's budget. OBR notes if productivity growth continues at current 0.5% pa the budget will be in deficit by 2029-30 of £6bn compared

Very good from the FT on the failing EU single market. www.ft.com/content/35bb... The policy error was moving towards a single currency before deepening and completing the single market. The political project won and the economic project lost.

Why does the UK continue with its "worst practice" approach to funding infrastructure via central government with all its governance failures? www.ft.com/content/9d7e... Other European countries would have used a public corporation and self-funded it meaning NO tax contribution. #publicfinances

Very sceptical of the OBR's inflation forecast for the UK to fall to 2% pa from 2027. The UK has become a more closed economy since 2016 and that results in inflationary pressure. I called this out in March 24. x.com/ThomasAubrey... Link to explainer lipperalpha.refinitiv.com/2016/03/idea...

My Sunday Times piece: The budget did nothing to boost growth and without a stronger revival, the public finances will remain vulnerable, and the threat of even higher taxes will persist: Now we really need the growth fairy to wave her magic wand www.thetimes.com/article/a135...

Pension funds start to increase exposure to private credit. What could possibly go wrong! exelerating.com/en/uk-market...

My latest @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk UK productivity note www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/blog/missing... highlights considerable growth challenges for Government. Between Q2 2019 -Q2 2025 private sector productivity growth was stagnant. Only 45% of the private sector had a +ve growth contribution vs 50%

Metro mayors have strengthened leadership and investment in England’s big cities. Glasgow should have the same opportunity through a model built for transparency and long-term decision-making. Read the blog 👇 buff.ly/6f9pg60

Productivity figures offer little reassurance for the Chancellor ahead of the Budget tmrw, writes @thomasaubreycca.bsky.social Private-sector productivity has stagnated since Q2 2019, & even with a 1.1% flash rise including the public sector, there’s still no real sign of a pickup. bit.ly/4p1nzYI

My Times piece: We need an independent fiscal watchdog like the OBR, but asking it to judge whether fiscal rules will be met in five years’ time, and raising taxes if not, is eccentric: Our obsession with the fiscal rules is a very British problem www.thetimes.com/article/c797...

Swiss chemicals group Clariant warns of more production leaving Europe for China www.ft.com/content/d44a...

My Sunday Times piece: In which, amid extraordinary budget chaos and disappointing economic news, I look for reasons to be cheerful, or at least not excessively miserable: As economic gloom descends, it’s time to unleash my inner Tigger www.thetimes.com/article/d6a2...

1/10 Important Benn Steil article on globalization, free trade, and the cost of underwriting both. He cites Wendell Willkie in 1944 as "recognizing how perilous it would be to integrate market economies with state-directed ones." @projectsyndicate.bsky.social prosyn.org/LkdDyx7

Excellent ONS blog on the ways of measuring hours. Both measures are reasonably consistent despite measuring slightly different things. Probably best not to make too much of the recent divergence - yet. blog.ons.gov.uk/2025/11/13/productivity-balancing-different-approaches-on-how-to-measure-it/

My Times piece: Hopes that the job market was stabilising were dashed by the latest official figures, which send a warning to the government not to risk further job-destroying policies: Job market hit by budget fears while still reeling from past one www.thetimes.com/article/896e...

Applications are now open for our new MPhil in Digital Policy starting Oct 2026. The course will draw on the latest Bennett research & close collaboration with policymakers, business leaders, & civil society to address key challenges. Find out more: www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/study/mphil-...

Good piece by @marymcd.bsky.social on insurers taking leveraged gilt bets to enhance returns ft.com/content/427a... One reason for this demand is the UK government has closed off the market for public corporation debt (pricing at c.50-100 bps above gilts) Crucially this debt would transform the rate

My Times piece: Why the Bank of England should not cut interest rates this week, ahead of the budget, and probably not again this year: Bank of England would boost its credibility by not cutting rates www.thetimes.com/article/e67e...

Why bond investors should support a letter to the Chancellor to use public corporation debt to drive growth & finance the next wave of urban extensions - (as it wont impact the public finances) henrytapper.com/2025/11/04/financing-the-next-wave-of-new-towns-investment-not-government-borrowing/

BBCFOUR tonight (and onwards) is showing the original series Edge of Darkness - please book your seat now.. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

www.ft.com/content/399a... Good opportunity for Schaeffler to set up manufacturing plant in the US for its electric motors which can substitute a majority of rare earth magnet applications.

Our Visiting Senior Fellow Dr Thomas Aubrey @thomasaubreycca.bsky.social has published a new article in The European Legacy, which discusses the decline of the Liberal International Order and why liberals should embrace it. Read more 👇

UK firm gets funding for green fertilizer project in Paraguay www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/ne...

Will be interesting to see how quickly European car makers start to remove rare earth magnet electric motors and replace them with products from Schaeffler. C. 60% of demand for rare earths are for magnets and C. 60% of rare earth magnets www.theguardian.com/business/202... @lisaocarroll.bsky.social

Very much looking forward to discussing my book ‘Your Life is Manufactured’ with the wonderful Professor Sharon Peacock on 4th November at Churchill College. Tickets are free -book via www.chu.cam.ac.uk/event/10570/ #booksky #making #manufacturing @churchillcol.bsky.social @faberbooks.bsky.social

I’ve written for @financialtimes.com about the need for belief in the future to get things built on.ft.com/47cO3Qs Why optimists build better infrastructure

Delighted that my article on liberal international relations theory and Isaiah Berlin is now out. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Might be of interest to @padamson.bsky.social @cerianbond.bsky.social

Delighted that my article on liberal international relations theory and Isaiah Berlin is now out. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @michaelkenny.bsky.social @chrisbrooke.bsky.social @lse-ei.bsky.social

My Sunday Times piece: The negative effects of Brexit on trade, investment, growth and productivity have re-emerged ahead of the November 26 budget. Plus: scrapping the 60% marginal rate would cost a lot: Why the economic fallout from Brexit is a hot issue again www.thetimes.com/article/aa8a...

This approach is unlikely to result in positive productivity growth as it's targeting low value-added sectors while higher value added sectors remain in decline...

UK Productivity: A short comment on the Resolution Foundation analysis that states the UK has received a boost in productivity growth. www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications... which was covered in the FT here: www.ft.com/content/734f... 1) Upward revisions of GVA will boost growth which is +ve

Important article from The Economist on why Zero Migration will be the most significant Trump policy - with macroeconomic implications. economist.com/finance-and-... "Stephen Miran...has argued that the net effect of lower migration will be lower inflation. That is implausible." For anyone that has

There's still time to sign up for this Thursday's webinar with Nuriye Melisa Bilgin: tinyurl.com/mr37sjsr

Very good piece by @undercoverhist.bsky.social on methodology, innovation and the Nobel Prize for economics beatricecherrier.wordpress.com/2025/10/13/w...

Great article from @dsmitheconomics.bsky.social who kindly quoted my research on funding & financing infrastructure without negatively impacting the public finances. The Chancellor can pursue an alternative path.. @greenmirandahere.bsky.social @tonytassell.bsky.social @pmdfoster.bsky.social

www.ft.com/content/7345... Highlights the flaw at the heart of the Chancellor's strategy in centralising financing in the hope that future productivity growth increases. But there are other alternatives. www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/blog/financing-infrastructure-without-unnerving-the-bond-market/

My Times piece: We can learn from the Netherlands on how better to finance infrastructure spending and more house building, without spooking the markets: It’s time to go Dutch to solve Britain’s housing crisis www.thetimes.com/article/ce46...

Great podcast on the vertical integration between the chemicals and pharma sector in China and how it became dominant globally www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g4l...

Innovation in China: Launch of commercial underwater data centre www.tomshardware.com/desktops/servers/china-to-launch-commercial-underwater-data-center-facility-expected-to-consume-90-percent-less-power-for-cooling

Sanae Takaichi has been elected lesder of the LDP party in Japan and is set to become the country’s first female prime minister. Profile here by @urbandirt.bsky.social of the conservative who has dreamed of becoming the Margaret Thatcher of Japan www.ft.com/content/18d7...

Looking forward to speaking with Con Keating about why Financing New Towns with Gilts won’t work at 10.30AM today henrytapper.com/2025/09/30/h...

New Towns 🧵@pickardje.bsky.social @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social @chriscurtis94.bsky.social

Following the publication of the New Towns Taskforce Report and the government’s initial response, Con Keating and I are talking about why the government shouldn’t fund them with gilts on Tuesday at the pensions coffee morning. henrytapper.com/2025/09/26/t...

The New Towns Taskforce has done a superb job in making the case for New Towns in terms of rationale and location. However, the funding & financing of these bodies is still up from grabs. If the Chancellor’s public private partnership is used this will continue to worsen www.gov.uk/government/p...

This piece suggests the Chancellor is increasingly desperate in her search for growth www.ft.com/content/2865... The reality is that most "Whitehall ideas" will not add to growth and hence the importance of the OBR. But there are many options to drive growth without negatively impacting the public

🚨New blog: The Chancellor’s first budget aimed to boost capital investment — but the bond market reacted negatively. With economic growth continuing to slow, it’s time for a fundamental rethink, writes @thomasaubreycca.bsky.social, founder of Credit Capital Advisory.