So, instead we get a succession of speeches about how the UK is going to lead the charge into space technology, satellite development, robotics, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and lots of other cool stuff. Unfortunately, such wish-lists tend to sound more like letters to Father Christmas than a realistic and well-thought-through industrial policy.
It’s important, of course, to be ambitious and to have a hand in shaping the regulatory framework for industries of the future. But the trouble with trying to become the world leader in things that are big, shiny and impressive is two-fold: they tend to be eye-wateringly expensive and they might not work.
Such ambitions are also based on a misconception. Politicians bang on about making the gadgets of the future partly because they want to spark a revival in manufacturing jobs. But those jobs are a mirage: there’s been a surge in the productivity of high-tech manufacturing precisely because modern factories don’t require many workers.
When a sepia-tinted view about the kind of industries we’re good at is married with unrealistic aspirations for where we can overtake the pack, it’s very likely to result in lots of wasted effort going into the types of policies the Government dreams up, the sectors it promotes and trade deals it strikes.
“Only by fully knowing our economy can we get a better view of the real, and sometimes difficult, choices on offer – costs, benefits and broader consequences – and thereby clarify the right priorities for public policy,” write the authors of the Resolution Foundation report.
We think we’re good at making ships and want to help shape the future of artificial intelligence. We’re actually good at making marmalade and will have a role to play in shaping the future of film-making.
We used to be the nation of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Alan Turing. We are now the nation of Paddington Bear.
