Investing for prosperity

de Timothy Besley, John Van Reenen

What institutions and policies are needed to sustain UK economic growth in the dynamic world economy of the twenty-first century? After years of inadequate investment in skills, infrastructure and innovation, there are longstanding structural weaknesses in the economy, all rooted in a failure to achieve stable planning, strategic vision and a political consensus on the right policy framework to support growth. This must change if we are to meet our current challenges and more that may arise in the future. Despite the current recession gloom, the UK has many assets that can be mobilized to its advantage. It has strong rule of law, generally competitive product markets, flexible labour markets and a world-class university system. It has strengths in many key sectors, with cutting-edge firms in both manufacturing and services. These and other assets helped to reverse the UK's relative economic decline over the century before 1980. This book, based on the work of the LSE Growth Commission, argues that the UK should build on these strengths and proposes how we can address the inadequate institutional structures that have deterred long-term investment to support our future prosperity.