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Great event on how the UK is approaching the question of industrial policy in the age of great power competition.

The challenges ahead are pretty huge.

Interesting to contrast with what’s happening in Brussels. Some thoughts:

Remarkably we talked relatively little about the US or China

It’s a more inward-looking conversation:

The EU seems to focus more on the distorsions created by China and the US

In the UK there’s a sense they need to get their house in order first.
So what were the UK’s flagged weaknesses:

fledging productivity

loss of momentum in avant-garde sectors where the UK had a leg up

a « folklore » around competition and the market that stopped thinking on industrial policy

Public policy two steps behind
This was far from a gloomy post-mortem but let’s look at these one by one

Productivity is indeed recurring issue. It’s been stagnating for more than a decade

And on top of that, London inflates productivity numbers, with most of the UK far behind.
Not quite a post-mortem as we will see later but let’s look at these one by one

Productivity is a huge issue. It’s been stagnating for more than a decade.

And on top of that, London inflates productivity numbers, with most of the rest of the UK far behind.
2nd weakness: The UK had a leg up on a few of the most avant-garde sectors, but it’s a frustrating story of not keeping that edge

The UK was crucial in the emergence Offshore wind, but didn’t protect its supply chains

Sense that on EV UK could already be out of the game.
3rd weakness: the "folklore" around competition in the UK.

In other words the idea that markets would in the end always provide the best option. In the current context there's a sense that means competing with your hands tied


4th weakness: public policy that's off the mark

Too often goes through the lens of the treasury, that's not the department that should be handling those questions.
Wrapping up here but this was very insightful too when we talk about those big economic numbers:

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