The AI is getting better, isn’t it?
The UK needs an ambitious industrial strategy more than ever. To achieve this, the government needs to take a systematic approach, forming symbiotic partnerships with the private sector and investing in the state’s capacity to create mission-oriented policies and effectively engage citizens. Backroom deals are no substitute.
Mariana’s articles are now just cliches rather than actively wrong.
It does look awfully like ChatGPT.
The guardian inner circle aren’t totally stupid and will also have noticed this.
This is not the only time ministers have been warned about the effects of Brexit on investment. Already, the UK’s decision to leave the EU is costing £100bn a year in output.
How much are Net Zero and Ukraine costing us?
Car making is basically over in the UK. Yes, we still do some, but it’s like being a farrier in the early 1950s. Some bloke in his 40s would still be shoeing horses, but he’s seeing less and less of them, more and more cars, and probably urging his son to go and learn to be a car mechanic because shoeing horses is going to be over.
Turks and Hungarians can make cars as well, but cheaper. Why would you make them in the UK? And it’s the same with the EU. The Germans, French and Italians are pushing their car making to these countries.
Long term, there’s going to be Nissan (because Sunderland is cheap) and the small, niche companies like Lotus or Aston Martin. The other factories are long in the tooth, old fashioned. At a certain point not far away, JLR, Toyota are going to bite the bullet and close them and move production elsewhere.
Yes Steve. I do like the way she bewails the results of Britain’s policies and insists the solution is much more of them.
Sadly, that also means a lot of related manufacturing disappears overseas with the car factories. Everything from glass makers, wiring harnesses, in car entertainment systems etc.
I guess that leaves selling each other over priced coffees as our main industry?
Bboy – it’s fun how people who want to spend a bajillion, mazillion, quantillion pounds on Climatemong and “equity” suddenly turn into a more passive aggressive Scrooge McDuck when it’s something that might benefit Britain.
BiB – Halal chicken, surely?
Come off it Maria, haven’t previous failures of UK Govt industrial policy been enough proof of the folly of governments picking winners or national champions?
I think what the bullshit bingo verbiage above really means is, gizza job!
Re: making cars. Japan isn’t exactly a low cost economy but manages to churn out the odd motor…
Backroom mission oriented policies substitute state capacity with ambitious policies to achieve private sector investment to create symbiotic partnerships and citizen engagement.
See, anyone can play bullshit bingo.
I’ll be sad if Morgan closes: I have fond memories of my father’s tale from his schooldays of zooming down Liberton Brae and his Morgan getting stuck in the tram lines.
“But, Dad, why did people make a car that fitted the tracks?” “People often do stupid things.”
Industrial policy is premised on the assumption that all those people who spent years studying engineering, sciences, or business really don’t know what it is that people need or should be allowed to have, as evidenced by all the trial and error in a market economy, and that if we could only free the sociology majors from having to work flipping burgers and put them in charge they’d set society right.
Yep. I think you just neatly summed up the UK’s industrial policies there, TD. Obviously a person with your intellect should be sweeping streets. Or are you unemployable?
My, grumpy today aren’t we? I’ve played in the development, engineering and construction industries for a long time, and have dealt with these policy people for decades, and despise them. You obviously think more highly of them, and perhaps they are smarter than you, but that would be sad.
Bloke in Brum,
“I guess that leaves selling each other over priced coffees as our main industry?”
Well, no. It means selling things that you generally haven’t heard of, or thought of. Media types always complain about how we don’t make anything, and sure, we don’t make a whole lot of general consumer products, but we have huge numbers of companies here who are making parts of other people’s operations.
The effect of Swindon Honda closing was actually fairly small because it’s been declining in volume for years. But what Swindon’s really good at is SMEs that do things you’ve never heard of. Companies that manufacture medicines, companies that make parking meters, companies that supply some technology that Apple put into iPhones. And it’s more profitable than people putting seats in cars.