Gerard Lyons
Senior Fellow
Dr Gerard Lyons is a Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange. He is a leading expert on the world economy, global financial markets, and economic and regulatory policy. Formerly he was Chief Economic Adviser to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and he also has 27 years’ experience in The City in senior roles with leading international banks, including Standard Chartered, DKB International, and Swiss Bank, where he had an excellent forecasting record. He is also Chief Economic Strategist at Netwealth Investments, and sits on the advisory boards at both Warwick Business School, and the Grantham Institute at the LSE and Imperial College. He co-founded Economists for Brexit, and his ebook, The UK Referendum: An Easy Guide to Leaving the EU, was released by Amazon. His first book, The Consolations of Economics, was serialised in the Daily Telegraph, and he is a regular press and television commentator. He frequently speaks at major domestic and global economic and financial conferences.
Related News
Gerard Lyons discusses the future of the City in BBC's In the Balance
Gerard Lyons took part in the debate 'Brexit: what next for the City' on the BBC World Service radio programme, 'In the Balance'.
Gerard Lyons: Why Mark Carney Has My Vote to Retain the Role of Governor of the Bank of England
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Policy Exchange's Chief Economic Adviser points out the five issues to consider regarding Mark Carney's continued presence as the Governor of the Bank of England
Gerard Lyons Discusses GDP and Brexit on Radio 4's The World Tonight
Listen to Policy Exchange's Chief Economic Adviser on the programme
Gerard Lyons Discusses "Messy" v "Clean" Brexit
On BBC Radio 4, Policy Exchange's Chief Economic Adviser sets out the case for a clean Brexit.Related Publications
Helping more people become First Time Buyers
Download Publication Online Reader One of the critical areas for a new Prime Minister is to address the challenges in the housing market, and to help turn Generation Rent into Generation Buy. Addressing the housing crisis should be a central feature of economic policy over the remainder of this Parliament and into the next. Related Publications
The City and UK Financial Services
A Strategy Paper Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. Download Publication Read Online A policy of ‘benign neglect’ towards the City and the UK’s financial services sector since 2016 is no longer enough to maintain its competitiveness in the face of an aggressive EU and intense global competition, warns Gerard Lyons. But the former Chief Economic Adviser to […]
Helping Generation Rent become Generation Buy:
Download Publication Online Reader This paper’s contribution to the housing policy debate is to outline the policies that are needed on the demand side. Too often, on the demand side, the Government’s policy interventions have resulted in higher house prices, exacerbating the challenge facing buyers. Now, there needs to be a shift away from direct interventions such as help to buy or temporary freezes in stamp duty, says Gerard Lyons. […]
Fiscal principles for the future
Download Publication Online Reader This paper calls for a pro-growth economic strategy as the best way to address Britain’s fiscal position. Fiscal principles for the future is co-authored by Gerard Lyons, Graham Gudgin, Warwick Lightfoot and Jan Zeber. Dr Gerard Lyons, Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange, said: “It is right to use fiscal policy as a shock absorber, to avoid premature tightening and to direct spending towards capital investment and […]
Why the Government should spend more on capital
This paper argues that the Government should spend more on capital investment. The case was already strong before the Covid-19 crisis and has been strengthened since, as its financing has become more affordable. The paper highlights the importance of taking advantage of the present macro-economic environment afforded by low borrowing costs to provide stable – and sizeable – funding for new infrastructure through an increase in capital spending by the public sector. Additional capital spending, in excess of the fiscal rules, would be sustainable and affordable
A pro-growth economic strategy
The UK is enduring a health and economic crisis. Despite near-term uncertainties, we believe that a new macro-economic framework can help the UK achieve stronger future growth. A new macro-economic policy framework is needed, as outlined here, based on the three arrows: of credible fiscal activism; monetary and financial stability based on a new remit for the Bank of England; and a supply-side agenda. Low borrowing costs create a likely lengthy window of opportunity to emerge from this crisis without being panicked into policy measures such as austerity, but it is possible that inflation and yields could rise, so it is not a risk-free option. Success depends upon a clear and credible policy approach.
Helping Britain’s start-ups
The Government has outlined an audacious package of measures aimed protecting as much of the UK’s productive potential as possible. But it is an outlier among comparable European economies in that it is yet to announce measures to help start-ups and pre-revenue firms. Jan Zeber and Dr Gerard Lyons outline the unique challenges faced by those firms and what can be done to support them.
Speed, Scale and Simplicity
The government has outlined an audacious package of measures aimed at dealing with the economic consequences of COVID-19, but in a fast- moving environment, it should be no surprise that policy has to continue to evolve. There have already been four fiscal packages in recent weeks, beginning with the Budget, then one focused on the corporate sector, the next on employees and last week’s targeting the self-employed. This has been supported by monetary policy. Despite this, further action is needed supported by another fiscal boost and further monetary action. It is not only the scale of the stimulus that needs to increase, but the execution of the policies. Also, the policy reaction on job protection has been impressively large, but the lack of any precedent means we cannot be certain how the measures will work.
Limiting the Economic Impact of the Covid-19 Virus
On Thursday, the Chancellor unveiled his fourth round of policy measures to boost the economy during the Coronavirus crisis. He announced what he called a coherent, coordinated and comprehensive scheme for the self-employed. This positive approach from the Chancellor, and the speed of the Government’s response, is worthy of congratulations. Yet inevitably, in this fast-moving crisis, there remain some areas to iron out, largely linked to the policies’ likely execution and administration. The biggest challenge is the delay, as the measures unveiled will take a couple of months to implement, and the strain that this may place on those self-employed who do not have access to income during this time.
Clean Brexit
With a foreword by former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson, and a postscript by former Foreign Secretary David Owen, this major contribution to the public debate sets out proposals for a ‘Clean Brexit’. It is written by Policy Exchange’s Chief Economic Advisor, Dr Gerard Lyons, and leading Telegraph economics commentator, Liam HalliganRelated Blogs
Ministers have an opportunity to cut taxes, drive supply side reform – and help reduce the cost of living
“My Government’s priority is to grow and strengthen the economy and help ease the cost of living for families.” These opening two lines of the Queen’s Speech provided a powerful message. Further action is needed to address the cost of living crisis. Also, those affected are not just families, but the vast bulk of households that are being squeezed. If the Government doesn’t appreciate this, then it may have its work cut […]
How the Bank of England has failed to control inflation. And what should be done to reform it.
To the relief of the French and European establishment, Emmanuel Macron’s re-election makes him the first two-term French President in 20 years since Jacques Chirac. However, the 17-point margin of his victory over Marine Le Pen does not tell the whole story. Voter turnout was the lowest in a presidential run-off since 1969 and Le Pen increased her vote tally from 10.6 million in the second round in 2017 to […]
Sunak should raise the lower tax threshold this autumn to put more money in people’s pockets
Higher inflation is inevitable. An economic slowdown is expected. Recession is possible. That is the economic outlook and challenge facing the UK. The question is whether policy makers are doing enough? This troubling economic climate is not unique to us. All western economies are facing an imminent inflation challenge. And, alongside the war and its consequences, this is starting to weigh on confidence and growth prospects for later this year […]
Sunak’s task tomorrow. The best way of reducing the deficit is to go for growth
Rishi Sunak needs to provide context, actions and vision when he delivers his Spring Statement to the House of Commons this week. Context, so that people can understand the present difficult economic environment and what lies ahead. Actions will be needed to cushion the imminent cost-of-living crisis. And the Chancellor needs to outline a vision, both from a domestic political perspective and to reassure financial markets and investors about the […]
To ensure that the City continues to flourish, we need to make the most of Brexit
The last week has been an important one for the City and UK financial services. First, the European Union extended its self-imposed limit on EU banks and other financial institutions being able to clear trades through the City, beyond next summer. EU politicians had hoped to be able to force this business to move to the euro area. The fact that no further deadline has been set may reflect the […]
Will there be a sterling devaluation this year?
Policies, not parties, is the focus of attention of the foreign exchange markets, as they look at the UK. It raises the question: what will happen to sterling this year? The thinking at the beginning of the year was that it will strengthen, but more than a handful are worried about how the UK economy will cope with imminent policy tightening, and whether a weaker pound or even a sterling […]
UK economic policy after a positive week
This was a good news week for the City and for the UK’s levelling up agenda. Nissan’s announcement of a significant investment in Sunderland was an important moment. Not just in terms of the jobs it will safeguard and create, but also given the specific and numerous warnings made regarding the company’s future during the Referendum. It was a watershed moment, further showing that Project Fear has not materialised and […]
The UK government and intervention
Should a government provide subsides and intervene in the economy? This is an area of focus and some controversy following the recent decision to provide a government subsidy to Nissan and intervention to aid the steel sector. One could be forgiven for thinking that the biggest criticism of such government intervention was from those arguing to reduce the size of the state. Government spending is, after all, at high levels, […]