Making the case for the free market in modern politics

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Rt Hon Liz Truss MP, made the case for the free market in an event at Policy Exchange. Truss said that free enterprise has huge economic benefits, driving down prices and creating growth and jobs, and is intensely democratic and open, breaking down monopolies, hierarchies and outdated practices. She added that in the UK we are fortunate to live in one of the freest countries in the world – but warned of a rising Left that would remove economic freedom from individuals and families to the centre. Great economies, Truss said, are not driven forward by central planning but by the “freedom to be disagreeable”. She concluded that supporters of the free market must make the case for opportunities of future innovation, and how it will improve people’s lives.

The panel discussion featured Adrian Woolridge, political editor and Bagehot columnist at the Economist and author of The Great Disruption: How business is Coping with Turbulent Times, and Danny Lopez, COO of Blippar, a technology company that specialises in augmented reality and computer vision and a non-executive director at Innovate Finance, the membership association that represents the UK’s global FinTech community, and was chaired by Warwick Lightfoot, Policy Exchange Director of Economics and Social Policy and former Special Adviser to three Chancellors of the Exchequer.

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