Publications
All Policy Exchange publications are free to download in .pdf format. You can also purchase hard copies of the majority of our reports – check each individual report page for details.
Recent Publications
Global Britain, Global Challenges: How to make aid more effective
Policy Exchange today publishes ‘Global Britain, Global Challenges: How to make aid more effective’. The report makes a strong case for the importance of overseas aid and supports the Government’s commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of national income on aid. The report has a foreword by Scottish Conservative leader Rt Hon Ruth Davidson, MSP; she wrote for The Times today about why “Looking forward, a global Britain should both maintain its world-leading aid budget and be a champion for free trade”.
After Brexit: Will Ireland be next to exit?
In a flagship new report for Policy Exchange, former senior Irish Ambassador Ray Bassett argues that a failure to reach a benign compromise between the EU and the UK in Brexit negotiations risks seriously damaging the Irish economy. So far, the Irish Government has sided firmly with the EU27, but Bassett believes this may be a mistake given how intimately the Irish and British economies are connected. In the event of the UK leaving the Customs Union and the Single Market, Ireland may be forced to follow suit, potentially even seeking its own “Irexit”.
Defying Gravity: A critique of estimates of the economic impact of Brexit
The models used to assess the economic impact of Brexit were misleading, according to new analysis by Dr Graham Gudgin, Policy Exchange’s new Chief Economics Adviser and the co-author of the report. At the time, the projections made by the Treasury, OECD and IMF were used by the then government and Remain campaign to argue that the British economy would face a significant and permanent loss of income in the event of a vote to leave. A careful analysis of the gravity trade economic models used to generate these pessimistic projections suggests that the impact of Brexit on our economy will be much less significant than the economic consensus constructed at the time of the referendum.
Driving down emissions: How to clean up road transport?
In this major new report — by Policy Exchange’s Head of Energy and Environment, Richard Howard, alongside Matt Rooney, Zoe Begherbi, and David Charlesworth — the case is set out that the Government must take more action now to tackle the twin problems of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution from road transport. Amongst other key findings, the report’s analysis reveals that hitting carbon targets will leave a £9-23 billion p.a. hole in tax receipts by 2030, and that official estimates of vehicle emissions and fuel efficiency are highly misleading.
The UK and the Western alliance: NATO in the new era of realpolitik
A new paper from Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World project, examining the future of NATO. The paper argues that current events, from Russian aggression to the EU’s internal politics, mean that NATO is weakening at a time when security challenges are growing
Global Governance: The challenge to the UK’s liberal democracy
A report by Jon Holbrook, barrister, and James Allan, Professor in the TC Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland, which provides an analysis of the discourse on global governance that has arisen following the emergence of rights-based treaties.
Lessons from the US on Innovation Policy
A commentary by Sir Geoffrey Owen, Head of Industrial Policy at Policy Exchange and former Editor of the Financial Times. Sir Geoffrey examines the reasons for US leadership in two key sectors, information technology and biotechnology, highlighting the important role played by new entrepreneurial firms
The two sides of diversity
New analysis of the Labour Force Survey by Policy Exchange shows for the first time that the most diverse occupations in England and Wales are taxi driving and dentistry – with farming being the least diverse. The picture that emerges is of a workplace where ethnically diverse occupations tend to be either low skilled jobs or highly skilled professional occupations.
Nice aims, shame the law’s a mess…
Clarity in law is much more than an arcane pursuit. This short collection of essays examines the importance of ensuring that the legislation associated with education both supports the policy aims of the state and matches our understanding of high quality provision.
Clarifying Income Distribution: An Issue of Equality or Need?
This report — written by Rebecca Lowe Coulson, Policy Exchange’s State and Society Research Fellow — shows that claims suggesting that income inequality has never been greater are not only societally divisive, they are also largely untrue. It also explains why income equality does not necessarily equate to high overall living standards, and explores how that relates to the duties of the state towards the least well off.