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Simon Wren‐Lewis

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Simon Wren-Lewis is a British economist. He is a professor of economic policy at the Blavatnik School of Government… more

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Economics 95%
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by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
Y'days post: The uphill struggle to stop Reform mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
Only two political parties are likely to stop a Reform government: Labour and Reform themselves. While Starmer at their conference showed Labour can fight Reform, they also fight against their core vote.
The uphill struggle to stop Reform
Making political predictions is foolish, but I can only see two political parties that can stop a Reform government in the UK: Labour and ...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com
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by Simon Wren‐Lewis

Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis

by Judith Freedman — Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis

judithfreedman.bsky.social
Spot on on how politicians think about tax. Unfortunately I agree likely we shall have minor fiddling again. But better options exist - eg Resolution Foundation suggestion. Since even small tweaks upset someone, why not be bolder and go for principled reform? Politics, that’s why.
samfr.bsky.social
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 1d
New post just out:

"Staying alive vs taking control"

Labour's big choice at the budget is whether they just want to try and survive it or whether they're willing to take some bigger risks that would have future payoffs.

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/s...
Staying alive vs taking control
Labour's budget choices
open.substack.com
3 11 36

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
New post: The uphill struggle to stop Reform
mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
Only 2 political parties are likely to stop a Reform government: Labour and Reform themselves. While Starmer at their conference showed Labour can fight Reform, they also continue to fight their core vote.
The uphill struggle to stop Reform
Making political predictions is foolish, but I can only see two political parties that can stop a Reform government in the UK: Labour and ...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com
2 7 10

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis

by Tim Bale — Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis, Jonathan Hopkin, Tim Bale

timbale.bsky.social
Not a single mention of the NHS--not least in the section on what the Tories did in government that, in her words, "lost us the trust and confidence of the public". Unless the Party gets the extent to which the crippling of key public services helped lose them the election, then they're truly sunk.
Kemi Badenoch’s opening speech to Conservative Party Conference 2025
YouTube video by Conservatives
youtu.be
6 20 72

Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis

by Simon Wren‐Lewis — Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
ICYMI: Misunderstandings on the left (and elsewhere) about the OBR, independence and the bond market mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/09/misu...
Government delegating some technical tasks to independent experts doesn't create a democratic deficit, but it helps transparency + avoids wishful thinking.
Misunderstandings on the left (and elsewhere) about the OBR, independence and the bond market
I often see pieces from those on the left criticising the OBR. Here is Louise Haigh , for example, talking about the “rigid orthodoxy of t...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com
1 6 14

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
Reliant on the Treasury for what?
1

Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis, Anna O. Law, Stefan Reis , and 8 more

mikegalsworthy.bsky.social
History repeats.
280 5.6K 12K

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
And why would the Treasury doing the forecasts change this?

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
So you think the Treasury would do a better job?
1

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
In what way did the OBR support his approach to economics?
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by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
But public investment is not part of the fiscal rule that is currently binding, and I've always said that it shouldn't be a part of any fiscal rule.
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by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
No one is saying you shouldn't be critical. My point is at least you know what they do, while if the government did the forecast you probably wouldn't. Also not sure they are that big an organisation given what they have to do.
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Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis, Steve Peers

iandunt.bsky.social
The politics of drawing a moral line: When we need to call out racism for what it is open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...
The politics of drawing a moral line
The politics of drawing a moral line.
open.substack.com
36 110 390

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
Thanks. Nicely put.
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by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
Like what? (Reeves has made it 3 years now, which is a mistake in my view.)
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by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
This weeks post: Misunderstandings on the left (and elsewhere) about the OBR, independence and the bond market mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/09/misu...
The government delegating some technical tasks to independent experts doesn't create a democratic deficit, but it does avoid wishful thinking.
Misunderstandings on the left (and elsewhere) about the OBR, independence and the bond market
I often see pieces from those on the left criticising the OBR. Here is Louise Haigh , for example, talking about the “rigid orthodoxy of t...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com
3 6

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
What possible politics am I blind to?
1 1

Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis

by Simon Wren‐Lewis — Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis, Iikka Korhonen

sjwrenlewis.bsky.social
This weeks post: Misunderstandings on the left (and elsewhere) about the OBR, independence and the bond market mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/09/misu...
The government delegating some technical tasks to independent experts doesn't create a democratic deficit, but it does avoid wishful thinking.
Misunderstandings on the left (and elsewhere) about the OBR, independence and the bond market
I often see pieces from those on the left criticising the OBR. Here is Louise Haigh , for example, talking about the “rigid orthodoxy of t...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com
8 18

Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis

by Simon Wren‐Lewis

by Tim Bale — Reposted by: Simon Wren‐Lewis

timbale.bsky.social
The redoubtable @sjwrenlewis.bsky.social with a useful reminder that you can't have your cake and eat it too. (Source: mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/09/misu...)
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