We are in an “era of intervention” where politicians make changes to sectors to make them work in a way that they think is best, according to BBC economics editor Kamal Ahmed.

Speaking at the PLSA Annual Conference today, Ahmed said that this can go right back to 2008 financial crisis.

“It is really particularly important for your industry in this notion that politicians feel much more emboldened since the financial crisis, than they did before the financial crisis, to intervene and change how sectors operate and create what they believe to be better outcomes.

“I think that has come from the notion that if you leave free markets largely free, you end up with the problem of the financial crisis. I think that is the overlying political instinct.”

Ahmed also said that Prime Minister Theresa May has made it clear that she wants to focus on wealth in terms of both incomes and assets.

In terms of Brexit, he advised people to look through some of the headline news and remember that “yes we have left the European Union but we haven’t left Europe”.

He said having spoken to many people in government, he thinks there will be a “three stage Brexit exit”. At the heart of this, he said, there are two big things

Firstly, no uncontrolled free movement of people from the European Union and secondly that Britain will have autonomy for our judicial system in Britain. He said these things seem “none negotiable”. However, he said interestingly May has not ruled out contributing to the European Union budget.

Ahmed also noted that inflation ‘soaring’ to 1 per cent is slightly “baffling” to anyone that lived through the seventies and eighties. “A little bit of inflation is seen as good for the economy,” he said.

Share Story: