This is the fifth piece in Flint’s Frontiers of Trade series, which looks beyond today’s tariffs and geopolitical tensions to the questions businesses will need to confront over the next decade. Previous instalments examined resources mined in space, autonomous AI agents, trusted information at the border, and the national-security treatment of biological capability. This piece […]
In mature payments markets, the biggest gains no longer just come from expanding basic access. They also come from making everyday transactions faster, safer and more reliable. Our latest report, commissioned by Google, shows how small reductions in payment friction, repeated across billions of transactions, can add up to a material contribution to GDP. The […]
The Middle East conflict risks sparking a renewed affordability crisis The ongoing conflict in the Gulf has led to a sharp rise in gas prices across the globe. For example, the NBP one-month forward gas future price, a key benchmark for UK gas prices, has risen by over 50% since the start of the year. Energy consumers in the UK are particularly exposed: gas sets the UK wholesale electricity price around 60% of the time according to DESNZ, and almost 90% of households in England use gas as the main […]
Last year, we published a report looking at the value of international tech diffusion to the EU economy. In this follow-up report, Digital services and SME productivity in the EU, we examine how technology diffusion plays out at the firm level. It focuses on the productivity benefits for SMEs from adopting digital tools, using survey data […]
Introduction A strange new term is echoing through the corridors of power in Whitehall: the ‘puffin’ (or, strictly, the PuFIn). Public financial institutions have long been a feature of government activity outside the UK – from the US mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau or KfW, eyed with envy from Whitehall for decades. But for reasons of history and public accounting, they have […]
It has been widely reported that the Chancellor is looking at ways to reform the UK’s complex and inefficient property tax system at the Autumn Budget. That property taxes are ripe for reform is not a controversial view. Tax experts, economists and politicians across the political spectrum have all called for changes to simplify the […]
In her first Budget last October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a series of changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs), designed to raise £25 billion a year – although £10 billion of that was expected to be lost as profit margins are squeezed and businesses pare back pay rises and hiring, and raise prices. The […]
This is a critical moment for the EU economy. At the start of a new European Commission mandate, the EU’s competitiveness and growth record are in sharp focus. Landmark reports from Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi have re-diagnosed the EU’s competitiveness challenges and proposed ambitious solutions – among them, reinvigorating the process of integration under […]
Taxing times – preparing for a post-election reckoning The Chancellor’s Spring Budget was characterised by a search for personal tax cuts to sway voters ahead of this year’s election. But in taking another 2p off the rate of National Insurance paid by employees (on top of the 2p cut announced in November), and leaving only […]
Many of these challenges reflect recurring flaws in regulatory frameworks, examined in Common problems with regulation in competitive markets. For insight into how regulatory scrutiny and intervention can reshape investment and engagement strategies, see In pursuit of a more growth-friendly regulatory landscape. Supporting economic growth Economic growth has been in short supply in the UK […]
To mark our 10th anniversary, we’ve explored ten moments that shaped global policy and business. In ten short films, our team reflects on these shifts and how we’ve helped clients navigate them.
“Everything relates back to the fact that there is very little headroom against the fiscal rules". Specialist Partner Andy King quoted ahead of the Autumn 2025 Budget.
Europe’s competitiveness challenge Since last year’s Draghi report, Europe’s economic policy debate has largely focused on one central trade-off: boosting competitiveness and enhancing “tech sovereignty”. To boost its declining economic competitiveness, Europe needs to close its widening innovation gap with other regions such as the US and China, which not only requires developing new technologies such as […]
“It would have been very difficult for the OBR to have done it in the last forecast before the election or the first one after it.”. “If they’d correctly predicted this economic weakness five years ago, would this all have been easy? No, because the forecast would have said: ‘There’s not going to be enough […]
In anticipation of the Spring Statement, we sat down with Specialist Partner Andy to assess what clients should focus on ahead of the statement and the Budget later this year. Tell us about your previous experience. I’ve spent most of my career working in economic and fiscal policy in the UK. Between 1998 and 2013, […]
“As EU and UK governments look at innovative ways to finance additional defence spending, Specialist Partner Andy King comments in the Financial Times on how proposals might boost resources for defence without adversely affecting fiscal targets.”
Specialist Partner Andy King joined IFS Director Paul Johnson to talk about the Office for Budget Responsibility and the important role it plays for the Chancellor in the run-up to Budgets and other moments like the forthcoming Spring Statement on 26 March.
On 4 December, Flint Global released a new economic impact report commissioned by Amazon quantifying the potential gains from further integration of the EU Single Market for goods and digital markets – and, therefore, the costs associated with continued fragmentation. With the new European Commission committed to fostering European competitiveness, the report shows that completing […]
Specialist Partner Andy King has written for the Institute for Government on the lack of post-election plans for public services, and how the OBR could go some way to filling that information gap given the Government’s reluctance to say more about what its plans would involve.
Specialist Partner Andy King spoke to the Financial Times about how the Government’s efforts to boost economic growth are captured in Budget forecasts.
Specialist Partner Andy King spoke to Market News about the challenging state of the public finances as we head into this year’s Budget and the forthcoming General Election.
Specialist Partner Andy King spoke to the Telegraph about the painful fiscal consequences of the Bank of England’s ongoing reversal of its past ‘quantitative easing’ of monetary policy.
On Wednesday 26 November 2025, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered a long-awaited Autumn Budget. In this episode, Flint experts discuss the Budget decisions, what it means for Labour's programme, and the political and economic impacts for the business community.
On Wednesday, 26 March, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, delivered her Spring Statement. What she originally hoped would be a low-key statement has taken on much greater significance as downgrades to economic forecasts test the Government’s ‘non-negotiable’ fiscal rules. In this podcast, our experts discuss the decisions the Chancellor has made in her Spring Statement delivery and […]
Yesterday, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, delivered the Budget along with a one-year Spending Review setting departmental plans for 2025-26. In this podcast, our experts discuss the Budget and its implications in greater depth, what it means for Labour’s government programme and the political and economic impacts for the business community. Flint Partner Jon Sell hosts the discussion […]
07 Jun, 2024
UK General Election: The fiscal environment for a new Government
With Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves indicating she would wait for new fiscal forecasts before a post-election Budget eyes now turn to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Their take on the UK’s economic prospects and what different party’s plans will mean for growth will play a critical role in determining the decisions the next […]
In this podcast, our experts discuss the Budget and its implications in greater depth, what it means for the Conservative and Labour parties and the political and economic impacts on the business community. Flint Partner Kiran Horwich hosts a discussion between:
24 Nov, 2023
Autumn Statement 2023: Steady-the-tiller Chancellor under pre-election pressure
On Wednesday, the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt delivered the Autumn Statement. With the General Election drawing closer, the Chancellor had to strike a balance between restoring the UK’s public finances, investing in growth and delivering a political boost for the Conservatives by responding to calls from his Party for tax cuts. In this episode our experts […]
