皇家华人

The Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) held a workshop at the House of Lords yesterday with an international line-up of experts on patient finance and industrial strategy.

The听aim of the workshop was听to unite听the UK Government鈥檚听听with its听听through听the framework听of听IIPP鈥檚听mission-oriented approach,听recently adopted by the听European Commission鈥檚 鈥楬orizon Europe鈥� programme.听

The workshop was hosted by , and supported by the EC听Horizon 2020 Project听听which addresses the European growth agenda,听and Professor Giovanni Dosi, Director of the Institute of Economics at the Scuola Superiore Sant鈥橝nna in Pisa.听

Speakers at the workshop included IIPP director听,听,听听补苍诲听.听

Also speaking were Director of UK Industrial Strategy Alexandra Jones and Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy听, as well as representatives of HM Treasury, Scottish Government and the European Investment Bank.

Several members of the听UCL Commission on Mission-Oriented Innovation and Industrial Strategy听were also in attendance.听The full agenda can be viewed here.

Keynote speaker, Sir Vince Cable, shared areas of strength and improvement in the UK economy,听explaining the role of the government in the now widely accepted view that the UK is great at science but bad at innovation and commercialisation of science. Cable argued that while the Green Investment Bank had been successful, it became a victim of its own success by presuming it had fixed a 鈥榤arket failure鈥�.听

Lord David Willets outlined some of the problems that he had faced when in government and working on innovation:

鈥淭he problem we have in the UK is that we see the role of government as about adding the missing financial resources necessary to complete a project after others have invested - rather than providing the upfront funding to make it happen in the first place.听Part of the problem is that the government lacked a vision about what to do next. Mission-oriented policy provides the solution to this quandary.鈥澨�听

Stephanie Kelton, fresh from her听sold-out talk at the British Library听the evening before,听part of the IIPP鈥檚 public lecture series,听gave attendees an insider view on mission-oriented budgeting and where money actually comes from.听

The event also saw the launch of a new听policy brief听by the IIPP, which sets out the role that state investment banks can play in smart, inclusive and sustainable growth.听Patient Finance for Innovation-Driven Growth听calls for a more direct dialogue between Patient Capital Review and the UK government鈥檚 Industrial Strategy.

The brief sets out the importance of early-stage high-risk public investment in order to fund those areas which the private sector is unwilling or unable to support. Innovation is a highly uncertain process and has long-lead times, so requires 鈥減atient鈥� finance that state investment banks can provide.听听Read more about IIPP's research on patient finance, state investment banks and public finance.

Professor Mariana听Mazzucato听said 鈥淭he UK鈥檚 potential loss of access to the European Investment Bank and the economic challenges of Brexit makes the points in our policy brief more relevant than ever. Growth in the UK continues to follow a model that is consumption鈥攏ot investment鈥攍ed, fuelling ever higher rates of private debt to disposable income.听

鈥淚nnovation-led growth requires patient finance. There is too little of this in the UK鈥攁nd much of the little we had was coming from Europe. Brexit will put further strain on any hopes of changing direction and the UK needs a new strategy if it wants innovative, inclusive and sustainable growth.鈥澨�

You can read the full policy brief here.听

Find out more:听

• Mission-Oriented Innovation Network听
• Mission-Oriented Innovation and Industrial Strategy Commission听
• Press release:听Does the UK need a state investment bank for innovation-led growth?
• Agenda:听Patient Capital and Industrial Strategy workshop

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