Each week in The Observatory, we ask leaders from business, politics, technology and culture (listed below) to share their views on a timely topic. We present a mix of responses to challenge assumptions and show where experienced voices agree – and where they don’t. This week: Burnham, growth and socialism.
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Q1. The day he won the Makerfield byelection, Andy Burnham said: “Growth cannot be ordered from the top down. Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up.” Is he right or wrong?
“This is at best a political soundbite.”
“Growth comes from the bottom up: individuals and companies. As prime minister all that he can do is set the tone and incentives from the top down. So broadly right, but perhaps vacuous.”
“Wrong. As well as bottom-up initiatives and hard work, we need a national medium-term vision for each area of the economy, plus government policy that supports market development within this framework.”
“Broadly right. Sustainable economic growth is strongest when the national government provides a stable policy and fiscal environment, while local leaders have the powers and resources to respond to the strengths of their own economies. Businesses often say that decisions on skills, transport, planning and infrastructure are more effective when taken closer to local communities. But devolution works best when it’s supported by a clear national industrial strategy and long-term investment framework.”
“He is right, but acknowledging the need for growth is the easy bit. Business needs to be incentivised to deliver growth, the government needs to get out of the way.”
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Q2. What is the biggest misconception about socialism today?
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“That it creates a nanny state rather than supports individuals to engage in society constructively.”
“That somehow this time it is different.”
“That the debate has moved on from a class war. Despite all protestations, it still seems to be the politics of envy rather than a desire for everyone to have more and be doing better.”
“That we can redistribute our way to growth.”
“Socialism promotes equality and social welfare by prioritising cooperation over competition. However, misinformation from the Cold War period has shaped perceptions of economic stagnation and political repression, while examples from Nordic countries show more complex models.”
What are your thoughts on this? Send us a letter to letters@observer.co.uk
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Contributors
Kirsty Gogan co-CEO, Terra Praxis; Bailie Martha Wardrop Scottish Green party; Neil Lawrence professor of Computer Science, University of Cambridge; Charles Palmer global head of TMT, FTI Consulting; Andrew Blair partner, Brown Advisory; William Pollen founder, Pollemics Ltd; Stephen Barrie deputy chief responsible investment officer, Church of England; Catherine Dolton chief sustainability officer, IHG Hotels & Resorts; Jason Blank CEO, Fora; Peter Denton MBE; Vishal Kapoor CCO, Chia; Muniya Barua deputy CEO, BusinessLDN; Ann Cairns chair, Financial Alliance for Women; Nigel Toon CEO, Graphcore; Moni Mannings OBE, FTSE 100 non-executive director; James Cameron chair, Oxford Sustainable Finance Group; Rona Fairhead chair, RS Group; Carolyn Fairbairn NED; Hunter Philbrick partner, Hellman & Friedman; Beth Blood CEO, On the Edge; John Holland-Kaye chair, Sizewell C; Gina Neff Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy; William Roberts Society Speaks; Jade McGlynn Russian politics, information warfare; Julian Mylchreest EVP, Bank of America