Andrew Lilico has just posted a farewell message on CentreRight. Andrew has been our most prolific contributor and will leave a big hole. He's stopping blogging on ConHome because he has been appointed as Chief Economist at Policy Exchange. It's a big appointment by Neil O'Brien and Charles Moore. PX have been forced to make some staff redundant in recent weeks and so finding the budget for Andrew demonstrates a seriousness about regearing their work in the gloomy economic environment. Andrew will continue part time at Europe Economics and will bring to PX the deep economic analysis that has characterised his CentreRight posts. His appointment also confirms Policy Exchange's increasing determination to assert its independence. Andrew has been a critic of some aspects of Tory economic policy - including on spending and bailouts. I look forward to seeing that independence of mind in PX output.
On a personal note I'd like to pay tribute to a man who has become a friend in recent times. He may be known as a chief economist - professionally and through his membership of the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee - but he's also a philosopher (he does, after all, have first and Masters (distinction) degrees in philosophy) and an Anglican Christian. His beliefs in tolerance (not universal acceptance), in compassion, that people are sinful, that perfectionism is hubris, but that repentance and reform are possible (no-one is beyond salvation) will, I hope, also find room for expression at Policy Exchange.
Tim Montgomerie
> ConHome's recent overview of the centre right think tanks' work on the recession.
Ah! Now we know the reason - congratulations Andrew!!
Posted by: Sally Roberts | March 16, 2009 at 18:25
Congratulations to Andrew Lillico, I'm sorry to hear that PX has been making staff redundant, it is one of the more thoughtful and influential think tanks.I hope they didn't waste money on their new logo.
Posted by: Malcolm Dunn | March 16, 2009 at 18:47
Wonderfully Anglican comment from the Ed.
Good luck with the economics Andrew.
You do know that middle England can't pay its credit card bills, don't you?
Further, surely you know that Etonians and windmills are non-relevant?
I hope that advising them is going to be a good use of your life and that you will be able to persuade them to start taking things seriously.
The best of British to you.
Posted by: Henry Mayhew - part-time Walsingham resident | March 16, 2009 at 19:00
Congratulations.
Posted by: Tommy | March 16, 2009 at 20:10
The Tories despe rately need some intellectual heavy lifting in the economic area. The years of Opposition so well used by Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher have been wasted running after the chimeras of mass immigration,touch feely asylum policies,the climate change hoax and failure to confron the welfare state.
Posted by: Anthony Scholefield | March 16, 2009 at 20:12
The very best of luck to Dr Lilico, hopefully he will interpret events dispassionately and avoid the temptation of trying to build policy around ideology. In these exceptional times we need people who are prepared to think outside of the box, with the courage defy the conventional economic thinking that has brought us to this impasse in the first place.
We now need a radical approach to economic policy, that means understanding where elements of free markets work and areas in which the free market, if left unchecked, becomes counter-productive. Its all about balance, all about being pragmatic.
Posted by: Tony Makara | March 16, 2009 at 20:37
Congratulations Andrew.
Despite the usual love-in praise, you haven't been much cop to be honest, as I am struggling to find a single article by you that supported the brave and ingenius solutions to the credit crunch that have been supported/proposed by Brown and Osborne.
I guess it just got embarrassing being so wrong, so often.
Posted by: ToryBlog.com | March 16, 2009 at 21:10
Congratulations and farewell
Posted by: Felix Bungay | March 16, 2009 at 22:07
Dr Lilico and the Policy exchange need to understand that British business with its huge reliance on SMEs is too small, too scattered, too ineffective ever to offer competition to foreign business.
For this reason arguments must be made to relax the anti-merger culture that arrests our economic potential and ways must be found in which government can help bring small businesses together to form trade-guilds, to develop a coordinated business strategy.
We will never be able to compete with foreign business until we get our act together.
Posted by: Tony Makara | March 16, 2009 at 22:31
Tony, I've often wondered what resource, be it education, knowledge or wisdom, you base most of your comments on, because they do tend to have bizarre qualities to them, also anyone who uses "x has to understand y" as an initial predicate to statement must realise they instantly come across as obtuse..
On Andrews appointment, your contributions have been excellent from what I've read, hopefully you'll be given the chance to substantially influence the next Conservatives governments economic policy.
Posted by: YMT | March 16, 2009 at 23:07
Economics and country life are oil & water but seem to recall that Oliver Marc Hartwich did lots of interesting stuff on the housing market, the planning system and more when at PX.
A tough act to follow, a pity he has left for Australia.
Seems like PX is turning into a pale imitation of CPS - predictable & boring.
Posted by: John Peel | March 16, 2009 at 23:59
Brilliant news, but Im really going to miss his articles.
Posted by: Steve Tierney | March 17, 2009 at 00:08
Best wishes in your new job Andrew, and I for one will miss trying my best to understand your economic contentions!
Posted by: Patsy Sergeant | March 17, 2009 at 00:10
"At once, good-night:
Stand not upon the order of your going,
But go at once."
Macbeth
Act III. Scene IV.
Posted by: Steve Foley | March 17, 2009 at 00:15
Best wishes for your new job Andrew, I shall miss doing my best to comprehend your economic treatises!
Posted by: Patsy Sergeant | March 17, 2009 at 00:17
Sally Roberts:congratulations Andrew!!
Malcolm Dunn:Congratulations to Andrew Lillico
Henry Mayhew:Good luck with the economics Andrew.
Tommy:Congratulations.
Anthony Scholefield:The Tories desperately need some intellectual heavy lifting in the economic area.
Tony Makara:The very best of luck to Dr Lilico
ToryBlog.com:Congratulations Andrew.
Felix Bungay:Congratulations and farewell
YMT:your contributions have been excellent
Fools! Have you learned nothing from the good doctor?
What is the crucial piece of significant information in this posting? There's a job going at Europe Economics! Quick!! Hurry!!!
PS: To have CPS bring out a brilliant paper on the day your move to Policy Exchange is announced? Ars est celare artem.
Posted by: William Norton | March 17, 2009 at 00:18
"What is the crucial piece of significant information in this posting? There's a job going at Europe Economics! Quick!! Hurry!!!"
Yersss, but with all the posting he did, maybe there is not all that much to do or the pay to go with it. Work experience , hey.
And by your own admission, the pair of you had long liquid lunches, which may explain some of the more lurid posts on civil liberties.
Haaaya, the finding of diamonds is hard.
Posted by: snegchui | March 17, 2009 at 01:24
YMT, the problem we face in this country is that ideological notions about 'competition' and an unfettered free-market have left British business miniscule compared to our foreign competitors. Politicians and court-economists fail to understand that economic policy has to be conducted from a nationalist perspective. We have to put British business first. Our business communities cannot act in splendid isolation from each other because in so doing they are to weak to fend off competition from abroad. We need to cast aside the ideological objections to mergers, guilds and consensus on prices, wages and working hours etc.
William Norton, I wish Andrew good luck just as I wish for anyone to do well. However Dr Lilico needs to understand that greater development of an internal market is essential to the economic revival of our country. As a Catholic Andrew should be familiar with the concept of guilds for example, we need government to set up guilds to bring smaller business together where there are areas of mutual co-operation. As I've said before, the SME culture makes it difficult for our nation to compete against the corporatist culture of China and others.
Posted by: Tony Makara | March 17, 2009 at 08:40
Tony yakked on: "Politicians and court-economists fail to understand that economic policy has to be conducted from a nationalist perspective."
Indeed. We should also immediately stop competing in international sporting events too, particularly those where we do not win very often, and instead focus on national competitions only, so those underperforming athletes get a chance to win too.
Posted by: ToryBlog.com | March 17, 2009 at 08:54
ToryBlog.com - are you being serious? No Olympics, No Commonwealth Games, No World Cup (Soccer, Rugby OR Cricket), No Wimbledon, No Champions League??? Rather a tough call, isn't it - and there is a morale factor involved even when we don't win!
Posted by: Sally Roberts | March 17, 2009 at 09:06
LoL Sally!
:-) I'm just giving the sporting equivalent to the loony-tunes policy Tony supports for business.
I could have used emoticons but I like to be a little more challenging that that!
Posted by: ToryBlog.com | March 17, 2009 at 09:12
Phew, ToryBlog!! You had me really worried there for a moment *Sally wipes brow*
Posted by: Sally Roberts | March 17, 2009 at 09:39
I think you need another espresso to kick the old grey matter into action Sally.
:-) <--smiley to denote humour.
Posted by: ToryBlog.com | March 17, 2009 at 09:45
Congratulations to Andrew and Policy Exchange! That's excellent news.
Andrew is a very good economist and I have always enjoyed reading his pieces on ConservativeHome. He will be a great asset to Policy Exchange.
Andrew, I hope you will enjoy working at PX as much as I did. It's a fantastic place and you will have wonderful colleagues.
Cheers from Sydney,
Oliver Marc Hartwich
Posted by: Oliver Marc Hartwich | March 17, 2009 at 09:50
Thank you, ToryBlog! Having some nice FRENCH coffee now...
;-) (ironic wink)
Posted by: Sally Roberts | March 17, 2009 at 09:51
Sally Roberts: don't mention French coffee, you'll start Tony Makara on one of his anti-trade rants. Say you're drinking coffee from some little place just to the south of Folkestone.
Posted by: William Norton | March 17, 2009 at 10:23
William Norton, I've never been opposed to trade, I only argue that we should be producing more as a country and we should be dominating our domestic market, rather than letting China and India kill off whats left of our manufacturing and textile sectors.
ToryBlog, don't you have anything sensible to add to this debate?
Posted by: Tony Makara | March 17, 2009 at 11:04
This is good news. Andrew Liolico it CPS. In fact there's been so much good economic writing lately that I'm getting giddy .
I single out John Redwood, Liam Halligan, Roger Bootle, Edmund Conway but alas not a serious peep out of anybody at the top of the party which seems not to comprehend economics and finance which is frankly a bit of a disaster in the middle of what is described as the greatest crisis this country has faced since (take your pick) 1929, The South Sea Bubble, 1933 1940, etc.
Osborne clearly is all at sea notwithstanding an erudite blueprint for Tory economic policy in normal times. Please someone shout so that Cameron can hear "These are not normal times so stop talking about trivia"
Posted by: christina Speight | March 17, 2009 at 11:11
This is terrific news. Andrew is the perfect person for the position of Chief Economist, though it is a big loss for ConservativeHome. His appointment will be a tremendous boost to Policy Exchange.
Posted by: Richard Wellings | March 17, 2009 at 11:11
"ToryBlog, don't you have anything sensible to add to this debate? "
Apologies Tony, I assumed you were writing for comedy value, so thought I would continue the theme.
Posted by: ToryBlog.com | March 17, 2009 at 11:19
Thank God.
Posted by: tired and emotional | March 17, 2009 at 12:17
I have to admit, William Norton, I WAS being a little provocative...I think it followed on from the little article over on Centre Right about coffee machines in the European parliament!
Posted by: Sally Roberts | March 17, 2009 at 12:32
Now let us hope we can look forward, in the run up to a most important General Election, to some solid and pragmatic Conservatism that will appeal to the man and woman in the street - the bulk of the Electorate, more in the Eric Pickles or Norman Tebbit mould, rather than high flying intellectual mind-games more suited to a school debating society or the jejune after dinner chat of the professariate.
Posted by: Steve Foley | March 17, 2009 at 12:42
Sorry, can someone enlighten me.
Is Policy Exchange a Tory linked think-tank, and if so how linked?
It says "Policy Exchange is an independent, non-partisan educational charity. " .. with a preference for looking at solutions from a free-market perspective. I tend sometimes to be gullible and take people on what they write which has got me in trouble in the past.
Posted by: snegchui | March 17, 2009 at 13:28
Unless the Policy Exchange drops its free-market perpective, that is making policy fit ideology, it will soon look outdated. Dr Lilico himself stated that the era of Thatcherism and Reganomics is over, he was right, now we need to look at alternatives.
Posted by: Tony Makara | March 17, 2009 at 13:43
Brilliant appointment. Don't forget your mates here and there's nothing to stop you continuing to post, Andrew!
Posted by: Alex Deane | March 17, 2009 at 15:51
"We need to cast aside the ideological objections to mergers, guilds and consensus on prices, wages and working hours etc."
I think you'll find objections to these particular policies are less based on ideology and more based on experience i.e. they lead to stagnation, high prices and economic inflexibility.
Posted by: RichardJ | March 18, 2009 at 08:20
Congratulations and best wishes.
Dr Lilico will be nigh impossible to replace on Centre Right. I've appreciated his radical thinking on social issues, where he has seemed almost always to be right!
Posted by: Martin Wright | March 18, 2009 at 20:35
WELL, it's good that they've had some change, after they made idiotic suggestions, like getting everyone in the north to come to the south and using the free market as the solution to everything.
Posted by: kdsf | April 07, 2009 at 01:09