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
The Global Economy: Prospects for growth and assessing the UK’s position
Policy ExchangeBy 2050, global output is projected to treble, with two-thirds of growth coming from emerging economies. The developed world will have to change radically if it is to adapt to this new environment successfully. To realise the opportunities of the next four decades successfully – for the developing world to adapt to dramatic social and economic changes, and for the developed world to face its structural, fiscal and demographic challenges and ‘pay its way’ in the years ahead, it is vital that these long-term issues are addressed.
Getting Interconnected: How can interconnectors compete to help lower bills and cut carbon?
Simon Moore and Guy NeweyConnecting the UK to power stations in other countries could help bring down energy bills and meet our decarbonisation targets. Getting Interconnected shows that interconnectors could save British consumers as much as £1bn a year, as well as allowing access to zero-carbon electricity. The report calls for overseas generators to be allowed to compete for government subsidy in the new capacity market and endorses ways to ensure that revenue supports development of new interconnector links.
Technology Manifesto 2014
Eddie Copeland, Cameron Scott and Sarah FinkPoliticians and policymakers must put technology front and centre of their thinking for the 2015 general election. This manifesto sets out three principal goals: to build the world’s most connected and digitally skilled society; to make Britain the most attractive place outside of Silicon Valley for technology entrepreneurs to start and grow a business; and to make our government the smartest in the world.
A Portrait of Modern Britain
Policy ExchangeFor too long, people from ethnic minorities have been categorised under the catch-all title of “BME”. But this title does not depict the clear and meaningful differences between each of the communities that come under this title. A Portrait of Modern Britain draws on an extensive set of survey, census, academic and polling data to build up a detailed picture of the five largest minority groups in the UK. It outlines the demographics, geography, life experiences, attitudes and socioeconomic status of each of these major ethnic groups.
Northern Lights: Public policy and the geography of political attitudes in Britain today
Neil O'BrienIs there a north-south divide political divide? A major study into public attitudes – Northern Lights – examines the new political and social geography of England. The research finds that the way people vote is less and less determined by their social class, and more by how they think the government is performing and their attitudes to controversial issues like migration and crime.
Housing and Intergenerational Fairness
Alex Morton and Owen CorriganThis report is Policy Exchange’s contribution to retirement housing provider Hanover’s Hanover@50 debate on the future of housing for older people. The report says reform of the planning system to encourage developers to build more homes, including bungalows and self build homes attractive to older people looking to downsize, is the fairer way of reducing the generational divide.
Board Rules: Improving corporate governance
Emily ReddingBoard Rules: Improving corporate governance, reveals that the solutions proposed and enacted by the government to drive up the standards of corporate governance among UK companies amount to little more than, “a damp squib”. The report recommends that investor representatives should be appointed to board nomination committees and that CEOs should be banned from such bodies.
Taxing Jobs: Practical policies for a pay recovery
Matthew Tinsley and Ruth PorterTaxing Jobs argues that because pay and productivity have remained strongly linked over the course of the recession, wages will begin to rise and productivity will improve as employers take on more staff. Providing a boost to the labour market in the form of a cut to the payroll tax for businesses would speed up the rate at which companies take on more staff. This would reduce unemployment more quickly and force employers to improve productivity and therefore pay among their workforces.
Watching the Watchmen: The future of school inspections in England
Jonathan Simons and Harriet WaldegraveWatching the Watchmen calls for a fundamental change in the power relationship between schools and Ofsted. It calls for lesson observations to be ditched, for Ofsted to consider abolishing or radically reducing the number of inspectors contracted to private companies and for inspectors to have relevant and recent teaching experience. It also proposes a new two-stage inspection process that will allow more resources to be focused on struggling schools.
