Growth gets a makeover

Plus: the Nimby threat to the West, and how not to sell electric cars

Aug 19, 2026

Inflation is up, thanks to rising energy prices (see our Stat of the Day below). It won’t stop there – Cornwall Insight expects the energy price cap to increase by 4% in October, wiping out the savings from Andy Burnham’s temporary VAT relief on household energy bills. And if the war in Iran escalates… don’t even ask.

Meanwhile Burnham’s pet project, Number 10 North, is getting a big boost to its power: it will take over responsibility for economic growth from the Treasury. But is the postcode really what’s been holding us back? Still, if No 10 North is in the market for fresh ideas, we have a few.

Matthew Lynn@mattlynnwriter

There is nothing wrong in principle with taking responsibility away from the Treasury for 'growth'. The problem is there is no evidence that Number 10 North has any idea how to create it. If it is just bus fares and price controls it will fail dismally. thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

8:53 AM · Aug 19, 2026 · 862 Views

16 Reposts · 29 Likes

And on The Capitalist this week, I sat down with Dalibor Rohac, who thinks growth isn’t just about domestic prosperity – it’s also the key to global security.

Below you’ll find all the latest pieces from CapX, plus what we’re reading from around the web.

Marc Sidwell
Editor, CapX

Today’s Takes

Fresh thinking from CapX

Let electric cars sell themselves

Max Anderson

‘So much of the oxygen in the EV debate has been dedicated to the ZEV mandate that we have ignored the red tape and taxes slowing down the sector’s growth.’

The ZEV mandate – which created a pathway to force all new cars and vans to be zero emission by 2035 – is a statist policy that needlessly undermines consumer choice. As a new consultation considers relaxing it, attention should turn to better ways to encourage the adoption of electric cars. Instead of relying on bans, Whitehall needs to get out of the way. Read More

Gove was right about schools

Michael Gray

‘The choice is between a system that trusts institutions to succeed and one that assumes Whitehall must tell them how.’

There are already signs that the appointment of Lucy Powell as Education Secretary has only accelerated the Government’s efforts to reverse Michael Gove’s successful school reforms in England. This is a clear conflict of philosophies: Labour prefer government control to trust and accountability. Conservatives should seize the initiative, and recommit to spreading the gift of freedom across our education system. Read More

The Capitalist: Nimbys are a security threat

Britain’s inability to build houses and infrastructure is rightly at the heart of our domestic political debate. Dalibor Rohac thinks it needs to be seen as a geopolitical failing as well.

This week on The Capitalist, I sat down with Rohac, incoming director of research at Globsec, to discuss his new book ‘Unshackled: How Economic Growth Can Defeat the World’s Dictators’. We also discussed how to defend Western institutions while still building fast, what Mancur Olson can tell us about vetocracy, whether letting China into the WTO was a mistake and why chasing foreign students out of American universities is an own goal.

Rohac’s argument is that the accumulated sludge of special interests and regulatory stasis which reduces growth and stops houses and reservoirs being built has serious security implications – such as the shortfall in defence production across the West. Free markets can deliver in ways that more centralised systems cannot, but only if the shackles are taken off.

Best of the Web

The truth about Net Zero

Claire Coutinho, The Spectator

‘Net Zero policies seem to be exempt from objective assessment. The point is not whether they work, but whether you feel virtuous in pursuing them.’

Britain’s pursuit of Net Zero could be costing households far more than the Government admits. A new analysis finds consumers would save £320 billion by 2050 with a cheaper electricity system that still gets 80% of its power from clean sources. Perhaps it’s time evidence mattered more than ideology. Read More

Why Britain needs a Messi Budget

Andy Haldane, Financial Times 🔒

‘Speculation is already mounting about rises in public spending, taxes and borrowing at a time when bond markets are only a hiccup away from a heart attack. Another long bout of fiscal uncertainty would risk a hat-trick of growth-stalling Budgets.’

Lionel Messi dominated the World Cup, while spending most of his time standing still. Likewise, the next Budget should do less to achieve more. Every fiscal decision needs to support private sector spending, risk taking and hiring. And the Chancellor should commit now to no more increases in the tax and regulatory burden in this parliament. Read More