Simon Wren-Lewis
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sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
Simon Wren-Lewis
@sjwrenlewis.bsky.social

Emeritus Professor of Economics, Oxford University.

Simon Wren-Lewis is a British economist. He is a professor of economic policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University and a Fellow of Merton College.

Source: Wikipedia
Economics 95%
Political science 5%

The current crisis gives the government a useful excuse to conduct major reform, to make among other things the BBC more robust to right wing media/political attacks. Does Labour have the good sense to take up this opportunity?
What you’re witnessing is a populist assault on the BBC.

This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.

iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
What you’re witnessing is a populist assault on the BBC.

This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.

iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
Headline from a serious and long working paper on the economic impact of Brexit. Possible that this has been feeding into OBR and HMT discussions?
It’s ironic but predictable that the BBC duo -who tried so hard to please the right wing papers-are removed by the right wing papers.

Reposted by Simon Wren‐Lewis

From June 2033. Worked out well.
Contrast this with Trump's infamous mocking of a disabled journalist
This is disability visibility.

Mamdani listened. He didn’t pander or talk over the disabled journalist.

He acknowledged his concerns and gave real responses about how he plans to fix them.

1 in 4 Americans has a disability, it’s a huge number of voters.

Don’t ignore us!
"Far from draining our welfare system, migrants are supporting the British state’s solvency."

New analysis by @lgilbert.co

ukandeu.ac.uk/lower-migrat...

Reposted by David Bailey

This weeks post: UK Productivity and the Budget mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/uk-p...
if the Chancellor is going to break her tax pledge, she should do so in a big rather than small way. What she wants to avoid at all costs is finding herself in the same situation in a year or two years time.
UK Productivity and the Budget
Most people reading this will know that one of the Chancellor’s big problems that she will have to tackle in the November Budget is a down...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com

Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design.

news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com

Reposted by Simon Wren‐Lewis

Y'days post: UK Productivity and the Budget mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/uk-p...
From a political point of view, one way to soften the damage caused by breaking their tax pledge is for the government to both increase and reduce some of the big three taxes.
UK Productivity and the Budget
Most people reading this will know that one of the Chancellor’s big problems that she will have to tackle in the November Budget is a down...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com

Reposted by Simon Wren‐Lewis

Good article here by @sjwrenlewis.bsky.social. If the facts change, why then should anyone continue following the previously announced course. It can be argued that Reeves should have done this earlier, but as stated in article: better late than never.
mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/uk-p...
UK Productivity and the Budget
Most people reading this will know that one of the Chancellor’s big problems that she will have to tackle in the November Budget is a down...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com

Reposted by Simon Wren‐Lewis

The case for tax rises is stronger & clearer than Reeves pretends. It's that, given our lack of productive capacity, we have an inflation problem, which means that the alternative to tax rises is either infeasible cuts in public spending or higher mortgage rates.

I don't think you can describe following rules outlined a year ago an unyielding attachment. I agree about Brexit.

My post was written before the speech!

While I would like Labour to move quicker on undoing Brexit, that will not avoid the need to raise taxes, if we want public service provision comparable to other major European economies.

The fiscal rule she is currently following is broadly sensible in today's circumstances. Perhaps you would like to say why you think the government should not match expected taxes to expected day to day spending?

Reposted by David Bailey

New post: UK Productivity and the Budget
mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/uk-p...
When it comes to breaking their tax pledge, the phrase ‘better late than never’ applies. Better now than in a budget nearer the election, both from a political and economic point of view.
UK Productivity and the Budget
Most people reading this will know that one of the Chancellor’s big problems that she will have to tackle in the November Budget is a down...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com

After a video seemed to show Israeli soldiers abusing a Palestinian prisoner, Israel has... arrested the lawyer who authorised the release of the video www.ft.com/content/0456...
Israeli military’s former top lawyer arrested over leaked prisoner video
Surveillance footage showed alleged abuse of Palestinian inmate at notorious Israeli prison
www.ft.com