Innovation to get the British economy growing again

Larry Elliott in this latest piece for the Guardian turns his attention to the importance of innovation as a catalyst for competitiveness, growth and new jobs. The basis for the article is the speech given last week by the new Business Secretary Vince Cable who is charged with finding the right incentives to encourage domestic and externally-owned businesses to invest and commit to sufficient research and development to speed up the process of innovation in the UK. As a nation our spending on R&D is painfully low and has been for years despite the best efforts of successive governments. Many emerging market countries are streets ahead in terms of R&D spending as a share of their national income. Successful innovation brings benefits on the demand and supply-side of the economy. And most of it will flow from the private sector - so how best to achieve this?

The Elliott article links to a new report from NESTA - available here which focuses on the need to re-balance the British economy to provide a stronger platform for sustainable growth and new jobs. Re-balancing the economy has become a buzz phrase in recent months.

“Economic ‘balance’ has come to refer to many things, including the balance between imports and exports, the balance between the public and private sectors, the balance between public spending and tax receipts, and the balance between the South East and the rest of the country. This report focuses on one particular aspect: the balance between different sectors in the economy.

There are some super charts showing the changing contribution of manufacturing and other sectors to output and trade. This will be a good resource for teachers wanting to update their notes on manufacturing and competitiveness.