Safety in numbers

It must make sense to merge local government pension funds, the economies of scale alone are massive. While having dozens of small councils running multi-billion pound funds is just a distraction from their main job and one they probably don’t have the skills to do well.

It is also the kind of seemingly small and inconsequential changes that together should help the British economy to slightly improve its growth rate. Bigger funds can take more risks and invest in the country’s future.

But this is only one of a dozen things which need doing and doing quickly. More training, reforming the apprenticeship levy immediately, expanding house building, reforming the national grid and the water industry, closer links with the EU, an industrial strategy; the list goes on and on.

All have been left to stew for 14 long years, all were impossible for the Tories to do, all are in need of desperate improvement with government action pushing and pulling the country forward.

We are far behind our economic rivals in many sectors, losing out on new industries and very dependent on the few world beating sectors we have.

The British economy needs deepening, widening and accelerating. All at the same time.

I won’t be blogging much for the next week, please enjoy the break

Jonty’s Jottings

From Jonty Bloom Media Ltd

Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.