Gerard Lyons

Dr Gerard Lyons is a Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange

Buckle up: the Liz Truss era begins

35 min listen

In this week’s episode: As the Liz Truss era begins, we assess the bumpy road that lies ahead of her. James Forsyth and Rachel Wolf, co-author of the 2019 conservative manifesto, join the Edition podcast (01:04). Also this week: From generation rent to generation buy: has Help to Buy been a success or a failure?

This was a Budget for the end of the Covid crisis

The Chancellor’s crisis management has been excellent. The Budget was another reflection of that, as Rishi Sunak unveiled further significant, targeted support to the areas of the economy that needed it most. Over the last year, fiscal policy has acted as the main shock absorber for the economy. Including measures announced today, a massive £352

No, Amsterdam hasn’t overtaken the City

London is Europe’s major financial centre and one of the world’s two leading financial hubs. This is unlikely to change following Brexit. Its main competition is with New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and other centres like Shanghai that will emerge in the coming years. However, the headline of today’s main story in the Financial Times proclaimed, ‘Amsterdam

Rishi Sunak has bridged the economic gap. But what comes next?

Yesterday’s measures from the Chancellor were necessary. His timely assistance focused on a new targeted and temporary job support scheme to replace the expiring furlough, easing loan repayment terms for firms and a wider, more flexible VAT regime. One needs to examine the details of these to ensure that they are as comprehensive as they

Can London survive coronavirus?

44 min listen

London is the motor to Britain’s economy, so how can it rebuild after the pandemic? (00:55) How can the new Tory leader in Scotland, Douglas Ross, keep the United Kingdom together? (17:50) And why the looming conflict between India and China isn’t in Kashmir, but rather in the Bay of Bengal. (29:33) With economist Gerard

London in limbo: can the capital survive this crisis?

We should worry about what is happening to London. Our capital is, after all, the country’s economic powerhouse. It accounts for just under a quarter of Britain’s GDP. In fact, three of its now most deserted locations — the City, the West End and Canary Wharf — account collectively for an eighth of the nation’s

Don’t panic about the UK’s high debt

Last week the Prime Minister focused on ‘build, build, build’. For the Chancellor, it was ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’ on Wednesday as he outlined an ambitious and interventionist suite of measures to prevent a rise in unemployment. These measures are estimated by the Treasury to be worth up to £30 billion. The last time the UK

A solution to Britain’s productivity problems could be on the horizon

The UK economy suffers from low productivity. Productivity measures output per person, or per time worked. If productivity was higher across the economy then people could work less, or be paid more, or both. Productivity drives an economy’s output and thus its potential growth rate and, in turn, living standards. So low productivity economies find to