UK
Britain is going through a difficult time, when its sustained ability to punch above its weight, economically and diplomatically, is ebbing. The end of irrational exuberance found the country ill at ease with itself, with rising inequalities and unhealthy nationalism, just when it needs to be fleet-footed in recognising that many of the traditional pillars of its strengths have changed. The need is to recognise other supports and partners and find a new common purpose after the pandemic. I live in hope.
do economic growth and wellbeing sit well together ?
Wednesday 2nd December 2009
My two worlds of work, the economy and health, recently collided when I addressed the chairs and chief execs of greater manchester's ten PCTs (that's the folks that buy our healthcare) and did a keynote at a regional health conference. I went down a storm at the latter, rather like whoever it was that followed the beatles on the ed sullivan show, as I was preceeded by a phrophet of our time talking about how aspiring to economic growth was utterly misguided. That nicely cued me up to talk about... how we can drive economic growth. As it happens though, I agree with most of what he said... click here to see the presentation (pressing cancel it if it asks…
equity finance: not me, but...
Monday 26th October 2009
Unlike everything else on this site, I claim no credit for the writing of this. However, without me it wouldn't have been published: I delivered the resources for its implementation, as we say in publicsectorland. I imagined it, and I made it happen - and actually I'm rather proud. It's the first, I hope, of a long and interesting series... (for more, see here)
storm may blow away first rays of sunshine
Sunday 25th October 2009
For every relieved homeowner is one in negative equity; the economy’s tiny uptick is dwarfed by the downside risks of the looming end of fiscal stimulus and ensuing public sector cuts... click here or below to read
think global
Sunday 25th October 2009
Internationalisation is an area where Manchester really needs to improve, particularly with the rising economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. By 2030, 92 per cent of the world’s middle classes will be in the developing world. How we encourage and incentivise businesses to look abroad is the big question...
greater manchester strategy
Sunday 25th October 2009
I can't claim all the credit for this, as it was very much a team effort, but if there's one pen that conceptualised and followed it through - led in a word - that was mine. I think GMS an excellent single coherent framework on which to hang so much of what this forward-thinking place is going to do in the years to come.
one step beyond
Friday 4th September 2009
Several times a slightly mystified Manchester audience has heard me talk about a “pan-European, sorry pan-Manchester, market...”. As in the EU, deep issues of equality and representation lie not very far under the surface of our work, and success lies in simultaneously putting in place a robust system that can take real decisions over real resources, and within which everyone feels their influence, if not equal, represents the weight of their population, economic influence, historical role and future prospects.
manchester independent economic review published
Sunday 17th May 2009
[As reported by the Financial Times] "Greater Manchester has the potential to become the "key economic engine of the north" and a second centre of growth to complement London if handed greater self-government, according to an independent report published yesterday..." WATCH THE VIDEO - scroll down with the yellow bar to "audience reaction" for 3-minute highlights
building the manchester of the future
Sunday 17th May 2009
[With Mike Emmerich] Manchester is beginning to work in a much more coordinated way towards a common goal of long-term sustainable economic growth. Don’t Stop Reading, but “governance” is part of the story. Our radical new governance structure is innovation in practice...
baron appointed non-executive director of trafford healthcare trust
Monday 16th February 2009
The Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust runs Trafford General, Altrincham General and Stretford Memorial Hospitals and is rated “good”. Broadening his horizons with this weighty responsibility, Baron has been appointed as part of a largely new team to make it better.
uk can't succeed without supercharging places like manchester
Sunday 15th February 2009
[Sir Tom McKillop] Expectations remain that this will be the Chinese century, yet Manchester's GDP today is still 25% higher than Beijing’s. At the very least there’s all to play for. Invention and innovation and not just the past but also the present and the future of “Emerging Manchester”...
baron appointed director of economic strategy
Sunday 15th February 2009
The Economic Commission, the first of its kind in the UK, seeks to seriously raise the rate of long-term sustainable economic growth in Manchester. Baron has signed up for understanding and explaining how to do that, getting everyone else to sign up for the new way of working required to achieve it and piloting the city region through some very difficult choices of short-term pain for long-term gain to get to those sunny uplands. We wish him luck...