In the UK, we have a new government ... similar to the last one... but without the need for a coalition. I make no political comment on the government we have ... only that I am glad we have a single-party government that should be capable of directing its own strategy.
In another context, wearing another hat, I have been ruminating on the degree to which governments influence productivity. My starting point was that governments have little long-term effect on productivity, though they can have an impact in the short-term. Long-term trends though tend to proceed irrespective of government intervention until there is some revolutionary event that triggers a 'great leap forward'.
However, as I started to think - and to draft the paper I am working on - I started to change my mind.
I started thinking about the infrastructure elements that underpin high productivity - health, education, skills, transport, communications ..... in addition to the macroeconomic and research/innovation culture. Clearly these are all factors where government has a major role to play ... and major influence to bear.
So, perhaps governments do have a major role to play ... in creating the potential for high productivity that industrial and commercial organisations can build on.
So, if you are in the UK, I hope you voted - for the greater productivity good - and not personal economic well-being. Only the former can deliver the latter in the longer-term.
In another context, wearing another hat, I have been ruminating on the degree to which governments influence productivity. My starting point was that governments have little long-term effect on productivity, though they can have an impact in the short-term. Long-term trends though tend to proceed irrespective of government intervention until there is some revolutionary event that triggers a 'great leap forward'.
However, as I started to think - and to draft the paper I am working on - I started to change my mind.
I started thinking about the infrastructure elements that underpin high productivity - health, education, skills, transport, communications ..... in addition to the macroeconomic and research/innovation culture. Clearly these are all factors where government has a major role to play ... and major influence to bear.
So, perhaps governments do have a major role to play ... in creating the potential for high productivity that industrial and commercial organisations can build on.
So, if you are in the UK, I hope you voted - for the greater productivity good - and not personal economic well-being. Only the former can deliver the latter in the longer-term.
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