This, in particular. Increasingly of the view that government policy towards universities is the test case of whether it really has a wider economic policy.

Nationalisation of British Steel leading to action under the UK-China Bilateral Investment Treaty perhaps...? Chinese companies starting to have form in this area... in which case the UK government might struggle to limit the compensation www.bbc.com/news/article...

People should move but fish shouldn't.

Right. So he's been persuaded that the protection money for use of the sea was really not a good idea, has noticed that oil prices were shooting back up, and has decided to bluster his way through with that old favourite, trade and investment deals.

There's a heavy "yes but..." required here. Which is to say that the EU is not yet convinced of the need to work too closely with partners on economic security, or that the UK would be first on the list if they did. Not least given tone-deaf UK lobbying that "you need us..."

Another push of last week's piece on Andy Burnham's challenges on trade. The EU is currently in the "too difficult so ignore" bucket, which really isn't a sustain able position. Some fresh thinking on transparency would also be helpful. ecipe.org/insights/new...

At the heart of the debate on the EU's industrial / trade policy overlap - add to which Europe needs effective competition in those sectors it wishes to develop

Two views of the UK's approach to trade negotiations with the US. Fwiw and not just because he quotes me in the next paragraph, I tend towards @alanbeattie.bsky.social left rather than the anonymous US official... and no the UK does not have a uniquely fabulous US deal.

Just reinforces that the rise of populism is not particularly correlated with economic performance - oh sure, the US is different, but so are we all. That's just the easiest excuse for people to give. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

At its core the EU is a permanent negotiation between members therefore its relations with neighbours must also be. Not sure why UK politics struggles so much to understand this. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

No running commentary on UK-EU talks latest... but what I hear from Brussels has not filled me with confidence about the way the UK side has approached these negotiations. As I keep saying, the reluctance to learn lessons is not a good sign.

Might be reading too much into this write-up, but unconvinced that the need for quick delivery is the main way in which the world has changed for governments since the 1990s. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Nope, the EU still isn't giving the UK a special deal however desperate politicians and media are to escape the trap of being just another third country. Next.

Not doing much for my popularity with politicians for pointing out that 18 years of low growth might be a new normal rather than a temporary aberration. So changing the subject, here's a picture of Japan's annual growth rates...

Wonder when governments might actually accept the modern world... apart from in Scandinavia, obvs, they always seem to adjust and have happier populations, maybe there's a link?

You already read the book, so here's my four paragraph summary of why the large factories closed. Now as I recount later, China did then recreate a model, but they are also struggling now with manufacturing jobs. More here... ecipe.org/publications...

Anyway, put Number 10 North in Lancaster... we've got a mostly empty castle and still operable prison cells for those who misbehave...

This week the EU will abolish its de minimis exemptions to protect European incumbents against China. The US already did so. Predictably it failed, only penalising small companies and consumers on the way. @alanbeattie.bsky.social as ever has the receipts...

This is the essential context that is mostly ignored by UK state of the economy type articles and speeches... corporate concentration driven by technology, globalisation, and regulation. Local or national growth then becomes about these companies. ecipe.org/publications...

More interesting is the future projection. Growth improves as EU relations get closer. Not much of a surprise. But not of course from the chaos that would follow Reform or Conservative plans to leave the ECHR. But is Labour prepared to point that out?

Useful summary of Brexit impact studies from Goldman Sachs. That there has been a heavy cost should be as close to "case proven" as economics will ever get. www.gspublishing.com/content/rese...

Over to you Andy to craft your story and align that with what is will mostly be a pretty common centrist policy program constrained as it is by demographics, global markets, fiscal positions and so on

"and you may ask yourself, how did I get here..."

Global problems... www.ft.com/content/4656...

Rare analysis that starts well and gets better in describing the emerging G2 reality in which the US and China are mutually constrained to coexistence. Raises serious questions for an EU in full scale China panic. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

My ECIPE colleague Matthias Bauer has also noticed the parallels between Brexit and the EU's trade policy debate... ecipe.org/insights/tax...

A little piece from me that will be in your inbox if you subscribe to the ECIPE mailing list comparing UK-EU and EU-China relations, the common thread starting with a rejection of the modern world. We need to find a more positive way forward for Europe... us9.campaign-archive.com?e=__test_ema...

Oh dear. The anti-coercion instrument can't be used against China because of the risk of retaliation so invent a new tool in the hope that somehow this isn't the case? And how are you going to restore competitiveness through protectionism? www.ft.com/content/06b7...

Back in the day we used to call this prolier than thou. Labour folk returning to the 1980s because the current world is too difficult presumably

Think I'll need to keep referring to this paper not least as the arrival of Brexit and ten years since the Burnham referendum (or other way round) is going to bring forth all manner of simplistic theories...