How Labour can boost British investment - FT中文网
登录×
电子邮件/用户名
密码
记住我
请输入邮箱和密码进行绑定操作:
请输入手机号码,通过短信验证(目前仅支持中国大陆地区的手机号):
请您阅读我们的用户注册协议隐私权保护政策,点击下方按钮即视为您接受。
英国工党

How Labour can boost British investment

Without a sustained increase in capital spending, higher growth will remain distant

Rachel Reeves, left, with deputy prime minister Angela Rayner on Monday. In her speech, the new chancellor outlined efforts to overhaul the country’s gummed-up planning system

In her first major speech as Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves underscored the new government’s dogged focus on delivering long-term economic growth, declaring it a “national mission”. With sluggish productivity for well over a decade, promises to drive growth are, however, much less important than the plan to deliver it. Labour’s growth strategy is still nascent, though its manifesto and early announcements give a flavour of its plan. One essential element is to unlock investment. Without a sustained increase in both public and private capital expenditure, Labour’s national mission will remain a pipe dream.

The UK has languished at the bottom of the G7 table for total investment for 24 of the past 30 years. Investment is needed to revamp roads, rail and energy infrastructure, and drive innovation. This boosts productivity growth and wages. Britain’s investment problem is multi-faceted, and no single lever can unleash it. But three catalysts will give Labour a strong chance of success: stabilising the policy environment, creating investment opportunities, and mobilising money.

To some extent, the government is already delivering on the first. “Stability” was central to its campaign messaging, and its large majority also makes Britain look more appealing to investors while political uncertainty continues in peer nations. Quick appointments and early policy announcements give investors confidence.

Many investors still need clarity, though, on other aspects of Labour’s agenda before making commitments. One is how it plans to improve relations with the EU. A second is how newly planned bodies — including a Regulatory Innovation Office, which aims to speed up regulatory decisions — will operate in practice. Investors are also seeking assurances on the government’s plans for capital gains tax, which some fear it will raise.

Alongside stability, Britain needs to open up investment opportunities. The government has made a promising start here. On Monday, Reeves outlined efforts to overhaul the country’s gummed-up planning system. This included commendable plans to elevate the importance of economic benefits in assessing development plans, provide support for more planning officers and a review of the National Planning Policy Framework. If this helps to simplify the system, it would remove a significant barrier to cross-industry investment. Another hurdle is skills shortages, which require the government to design a more flexible training system.

Finally, to turbocharge investment, the government must do a better job of channelling financial resources. Reeves used her speech to warn of the dire state of public finances, which only reinforces the importance of leveraging private financing sources for investment.

A £7.3bn National Wealth Fund, which will provide cornerstone funding to support private sector investment, is encouraging. The fund’s task force on Tuesday suggested extending investments into “wider sectors”, beyond the initial focus on decarbonisation, and to entrench operational independence from the government. Provided this does not result in small-scale scattergun investments, this sounds sensible. The government must simultaneously pursue efforts to liberate the country’s vast pension savings for capital investment. A further source of funding is foreign investment. Here, a “concierge service” could help prospective investors navigate regulatory issues and boost the country’s appeal.

To overturn decades of under-investment, the government will have to spin many plates. It has got off to a decent start. But if it is to fund public service renewal from economic growth, delivering on all aspects of the investment agenda will be crucial.

版权声明:本文版权归FT中文网所有,未经允许任何单位或个人不得转载,复制或以任何其他方式使用本文全部或部分,侵权必究。

再次陷入危机的大众汽车能走上改革之路吗?

欧洲最大的汽车制造商正与工人和政界人士交战,试图渡过痛苦的电动汽车转型期。

哈里斯的另一个大选对手:通货膨胀

美国选民对高昂生活成本的不满可能决定下周谁将赢得白宫。

Lex专栏:Meta和微软通过季度理智检查

科技巨头今天吹捧真正的胜利,以证明明天的巨额投资是合理的。投资者对此是支持的,但程度有限。

FT社评:英国工党预算——雄心勃勃,前景不明

财政大臣蕾切尔•里夫斯现在必须兑现她的投资计划,否则税收还将进一步增加。

Lex专栏:大众汽车很难走出死胡同

尽管这家汽车制造商计划裁员和关闭工厂,但投资者的担忧是可以理解的。

安谋如何成为人工智能投资热潮中的意外赢家

这家由软银控股的英国芯片设计公司的股价在过去一年上涨了两倍。但它的野心远不止于此。
设置字号×
最小
较小
默认
较大
最大
分享×