The UK’s industrial policy has been hampered by ‘chop and change’ strategies following nine business secretaries and seven chancellors in the last 13 years, according to an Institute of Public Policy and Research (IPPR) report.
During that time, 11 strategies have come and gone. The ‘Making markets in practice’ report notes non-intervention is as much an industrial policy as Biden’s near $1trn investment in green technology, “only a worse one”.
It outlines four key dimensions, beyond subsidies; an objective of industrial strategy; production built around product standards and low-cost financing; purchasing involving procurement conditions and tariffs; and economic conditions, encompassing workforce, infrastructure and innovation.
Advocating an alternative ‘social partnership’ approach, the IPPR report states there should be more emphasis on collaboration between government, business, workers and trade unions.
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