Wall Street · Urbans Post
EXPERT COMMENT The cost of living, growth and jobs are all impacted by global geoeconomics. To pass the ‘Makerfield Test’ and deliver for ordinary people, the budget should recognize this and build resilience to external shocks. This week’s budget, the first of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government, will aim to reduce the cost of living and deliver growth and jobs.
It faces a major challenge: much of what impacts both these objectives is set abroad. I have previously argued for an international form of Burnham’s ‘Manchesterism.’ This ‘International Manchesterism’ should recognize that global forces are inseparable from local outcomes. Therefore, domestic priorities will be achieved only if the government recognizes and puts to use the two-way link between the domestic and the international.
Its success can be measured by applying the ‘Makerfield Test’ (a reference to Burnham’s constituency in northern England) to foreign policy, which provides a framework for assessing whether the government’s international choices tangibly improve life in Britain’s communities. The test has several key pillars including economic security, energy resilience and rebalancing investment towards underserved regions. The budget is where those pillars meet the public finances.
Burnham has promised better public services and lower bills. But these rest on global gas markets, food and fertiliser supply chains, and investor confidence. In this budget, Chancellor John Healey should therefore treat geoeconomics not just as context, but as a key fiscal variable.
The budget cannot deliver on the cost of living, growth or jobs through domestic tax and spend alone. Click here to continue reading the full version of this Expert Comment on the Chatham House website.
Source: Wired Gov
