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
Taking Its Toll: The regressive impact of property crime in Britain
Policy ExchangeAuthored by Rt Hon David Lammy MP, MP for Tottenham and prospective Labour candidate for London Mayor, Taking Its Toll says that an unaddressed property crime pandemic is sweeping Britain. Despite accounting for 75% of all recorded crime, the police and the courts have been turning a blind eye, Lammy states.
The Central Contradiction of Capitalism? A collection of essays on Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Steve HughesThis essay collection collates some of the most thought provoking assessments of Thomas Piketty’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, and publishes some new ones for the first time.
Economics Manifesto 2015
Jonathan DupontThe Economics Manifesto says that the next government should seek to create a capital-owning democracy for all, so that each and every person in the UK can benefit from economic growth. The report proposes mass distribution of RBS and Lloyds’ shares, compulsory savings, the introduction of a Bonus Isa and a new generation of private sector Premium Bonds.
Garden Villages: Empowering localism to solve the housing crisis
Chris WalkerOver one million new homes could be built over the next decade if each of the 353 councils in England built just one garden village of 3,000 new houses. Garden Villages shows how a future government can overcome local opposition to development by devolving powers to set up new garden villages from Whitehall to councils.
Welfare Manifesto 2015
Steve Hughes and Guy MiscampbellThe Welfare Manifesto shows how to make the welfare system fit for the 21st Century. The report sets out principles to be make the system simpler, more effective, fairer, more affordable, and reward contribution.
Small Pieces Loosely Joined: How smarter use of technology and data can deliver real reform of local government
Eddie CopelandSmall Pieces Loosely Joined highlights how billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being wasted due to the inability of local councils to share and to use technology and data in the most cost effective way. It sets out how councils can save money by making better use of data through sharing and fraud prevention and by replacing bespoke IT systems with an ‘app store’.
Bonus ISAs
Steve HughesBonus ISAs proposes a new scheme to give people more flexibility to build up their tax-free savings pots during the course of a lifetime. The “Bonus ISA” would be offered to anybody who is unable to use their full annual tax-free savings allowance (currently set at £15,000). People would be given the power to roll over any unused portions of their existing ISA allowances into their Bonus ISA account.
Warmer Homes: Improving fuel poverty and energy efficiency policy in the UK
Richard HowardWarmer Homes presents a character profile of the 2.3 million households in England living in fuel poverty. Among the findings in the report is the fact that nearly half of all fuel poor households (1.1m) are in work, challenging the perception that fuel poverty primarily involves the elderly and retired.
Going, Going, Gone: The role of auctions and competition in renewable electricity support
Simon Moore and Guy NeweyThis report calls for plans to introduce auctioning to enable all technologies to compete on a level playing field should be brought forward. It points to Brazil, where prices for onshore wind have dropped to world record lows since auctioning was introduced. If the UK can achieve a even a fraction of the results from Brazil, it would allow much greater decarbonisation for the available budget.
Swift and Certain: A new paradigm for criminal justice
Glyn Gaskarth and Charlotte McLeodHousing associations are being stifled by unnecessary red tape that prevents them from building 100,000 new homes a year – a third of the total housing supply needed to keep up with demand. The government should create a new category of ‘Free Housing Associations’, that are able to set their own rent policy, choose their own tenants and manage their housing stock with greater autonomy.
