Thomas Aubrey, Author at Centre for Progressive Capitalism Archive

Britain’s dysfunctional housing market: a European comparison

Compared to European counterparts, Britain’s housing market is a picture of market failure

Across the European Union there is often a perception that Britain takes a more market-oriented approach, and where Britain leads continental Europe eventually follows. However, when it comes to housing, this is not the case. Britain’s housing market is far more dysfunctional than its European counterparts. A comparison of two key metrics of a group of six northern European countries demonstrates that the UK has by far the largest market failure in housing. The UK continues to have the lowest construction rate of all six countries. Moreover its housing benefit bill, due to soaring rents, dwarfs that of other countries and is now almost 10 times that of Germany.

Continue reading “Britain’s dysfunctional housing market: a European comparison”

Making markets work: how effective regulation reduces reliance on taxation

Social democrats need to shift away from an exclusive reliance on tax and redistribution towards thinking more about making markets work at the micro level

Download Full Report

The complacency with which an ever increasing amount of tax payers’ money was used to counter the worst excesses of the market has weakened centre-left parties in the fall-out from the financial crisis. This form of redress is not only no longer politically viable, but it also fails to address the underlying cause of the problem.

Continue reading “Making markets work: how effective regulation reduces reliance on taxation”

How George Osborne could stop the next financial crisis

Scrapping tax relief for buy-to-let investors and tackling high land prices should be priorities in this week’s budget if the chancellor wants to avoid a crash in 2025

Scrapping tax relief for buy-to-let investors and tackling high land prices should be priorities in this week’s budget if the chancellor wants to avoid a crash in 2025

Last year, the economist Charles Goodhart predicted that the next financial crisis will hit in 2025 due to another property bubble and some clever financial engineering. Evidence to date suggests that politicians have limited interest in stopping booms and busts. But there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic that George Osborne could be the chancellor to ruin Goodhart’s prediction. Continue reading “How George Osborne could stop the next financial crisis”

Bigger is better for pension funds

Scaling-up pensions schemes would not just increase savers’ retirement incomes, it could have a significant impact on corporate governance and lead to better long-term returns

Scaling-up pensions schemes would not just increase savers’ retirement incomes, it could have a significant impact on corporate governance and lead to better long-term returns

The general election debate between the political parties was widely criticised by commentators for not tackling the underlying issues which face our economy and society. In particular, there was almost no focus on the United Kingdom’s woeful productivity record. Such a debate, including the way in which our wealth-creating institutions are governed, is too distant for most voters, but it remains the role of political leaders to demonstrate why these issues must be tackled. Continue reading “Bigger is better for pension funds”

We need a dynamic, democratic capitalism

The debate between left and right constrains the development of our political economy leading to stagnation. It’s time for a new agenda focusing on democratising access to land, education and finance

The substance of the recent general election debate does not bode well for the future of our economy and society. Britain’s inability to escape from its long-standing low rates of productivity growth – and the increasing amount of evidence that for the first time since the early 20^th century the younger generation will be poorer than their parents – was largely ignored during the run up to 5 May. Although politicians on both sides have acknowledged that living standards have stagnated with rising inequality, the electorate was merely offered more of the same by the right, while the left focussed on reducing inequality but generally failed to understand the importance of wealth creation. Progress, or the betterment of the human condition, has stalled – which is of great concern, as progress is crucial to the legitimation of our liberal democracy.

Continue reading “We need a dynamic, democratic capitalism”

Supporting investors and growth firms: A bottom-up approach to a Capital Markets Union

This publication focuses on how the Capital Markets Union might lead to tangible gains in investment and jobs growth. It is based on a micro analysis of the challenges faced by growth and innovative firms in six large member states

Download eBook

Purchase

High-growth and innovative firms are the drivers of tomorrow’s jobs and our future prosperity. Supporting these firms, including how they can access finance, should be one of the highest policy priorities of European governments. By seeking to provide deeper pools of capital across the EU for firms and reducing dependence on bank financing, the EU’s proposed Capital Markets Union initiative can make a significant contribution to this agenda.

Continue reading “Supporting investors and growth firms: A bottom-up approach to a Capital Markets Union”

Report: The challenge of accelerating UK housebuilding

Britain’s housing crisis results from the failure of politicians to ensure that markets work in the public interest rather than to the benefit of the unproductive few

Download the full report

Britain’s housing crisis results from the failure of politicians to ensure that markets work in the public interest rather than to the benefit of the unproductive few. This failure, besides the ongoing social issues surrounding housing, has had a negative impact on the UK economy through increasing monetary instability as well as lower output and employment due to a transfer of resources to pay for mostly existing assets as opposed to acquiring new goods.

Continue reading “Report: The challenge of accelerating UK housebuilding”