Frontier Economics

What can the next government do to boost the productivity of the UK economy? 📈 Ahead of the UK General Election next week, Frontier’s Chair Gus O’Donnell discusses the need for a long-term policy approach, a braver stance towards innovation, a refocussed regulatory system and identifying and removing barriers to growth. 🔗 Read the full opinion piece in the Financial Times: https://lnkd.in/e-rzTyH3 #UKElection #Policy #Innovation #Productivity

#EconomicSecurity has become an important focus of policy, particularly in relation to technologies deemed to be critical to future prosperity. 🧑💻 But because of its emotive overtones, the notion of “security” can cloud thinking around difficult policy decisions. 🔐 In our report for Digital Europe, we examine the position of the EU in in a range of critical technologies. We find the evidence builds the case for pro-competitive policies that major on openness and smart interventions, rather than restrictions and notions of sovereignty. 🚀 📌 Click here to read the full report https://okt.to/WvmUaV #DigitalPolicy #EUPolicy #AI

📝 We know who’s waking up in Downing Street tomorrow (don't we?) So what's on the list for day 1? As the UK's election buzz reaches its peak today, our Chairman Gus O'Donnell, spills some insights on the power handover process. Whether Starmer steps in or Sunak manages to stay put, Gus's years at the top of government offer a unique peek behind the curtain. Whoever wakes up behind the famous black door, this article is a must-read to understand the mechanics of political transitions. Read the article here: https://okt.to/6XvxIZ #UKElections2024 #ElectionResults #PoliticalInsights #FrontierEconomics

Frontier recently held the fourth webinar in our #MarketDesign series: Capacity Market Design. 🌟 We covered several topics, including the case for changing the GB electricity reliability standards. 🔌 We have written a report for DESNZ on this topic 📃 📌 Click here to read the full report https://okt.to/HrbIZN #UKEnergy #UKElectricity

We’re pleased that Lufthansa’s acquisition of ITA Airways has received the green light from the European Commission. Lufthansa will take joint control of ITA with the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. The clearance is conditional on certain remedies. A team of Frontier economists led by Julia Dietrich, Mette Alfter and Stefan Lochner advised Lufthansa on the acquisition. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dpgH5bUH #competition #airlinemergers #EUMergerControl #ITA #Lufthansa #EUCompetition

The current queue of power generation and storage projects waiting to connect to the GB grid stands at 700GW, more than four times the volume of generation that is predicted to be needed by 2050. ⚡ Clearly not all these projects will get built, but the size of the queue means that new projects are told they can only connect to the grid a long way into the future. 🚀 ESO has proposed reforms to these processes to ensure that the projects that we need for #NetZero are not unduly delayed. While these proposals may reduce the length of the queue, they aim do so by increasing the barriers to joining it, meaning the net outcome for new and existing projects, and therefore customers, is uncertain. ❓ In this short briefing, we set out the factors Ofgem will need to consider when they come to assess the final proposals, and consider some additional low regret changes which could be made. 💡 📌Click here to read the full article https://okt.to/wvDfxS #UKEnergy #EnergyTransition

This June, we proudly celebrated Pride Month with a series of special events organised by our Spectrum staff network 🌈 We were delighted to welcome Ian Burn, Professor of Economics at the University of Liverpool, who gave an insightful talk on the “Effect of gender-affirming care on mental health and labour market outcomes.” We also hosted an exciting staff #quiz, bringing together teams from all our offices. Throughout the month, we enjoyed sweet treats in our local kitchens and shared our favourite Queer Media recommendations, from films and TV shows to literature and podcasts. Finally was our meet-up at London Pride on Saturday 29 June! 🏳🌈 And the celebrations continue with Pride Parades in all our office cities throughout July. Check out the photos from our events and join us in celebrating diversity and inclusion! Learn more about Spectrum and our other staff networks that power our equity, diversity and inclusion culture at Frontier: https://okt.to/whiIx5 #PrideMonth #InclusionMatters #Pride2024 #CelebrateWithPride

Extremely pleased that the European Commission has cleared Lufthansa's acquisition of a stake in ITA Airways, subject to conditions. It's been a pleasure to support Lufthansa during this process and it's brilliant to see that our combined efforts have paid off! A big shout out to the team at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Peter Niggemann, Katrin Gassner, Mathilde Beaumunier, Dr. Lasse Petersen and others) for the great collaboration and to my colleagues at Frontier Economics (Mette Alfter, Stefan Lochner, Fernando Louge, Chiara Riviera and many others) for the fantastic team effort. And of course many congratulations to Christian Raepple and everyone else at Lufthansa for this big success!

Last week we welcomed some of our clients and friends who work with our Paris team to a drinks reception in our new Paris office 🥂 Our speaker was Alessio Terzi, economist at the European Commission and lecturer at the University of Cambridge and Sciences Po. 🌿 Alessio gave a compelling speech with his perspectives on "green growth": how the drivers of economic growth and the levers for fighting against climate change might interact. We had a great evening discussing this, and many other topics, with our clients and we would like to thank everyone who took time out of their evening to join us 🙌🎉

🔊“I am very frustrated that a lot of economics journalists have forgotten that GDP was created as a measure of activity, not as a measure of success… I am a big fan of governments having, as their success measure, improving people’s lives” These are the words of our Chairman Gus O’Donnell, speaking to Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart in the latest episode of the #Leading podcast, 'The Man Who Ran Downing Street'. In this career-spanning interview, Gus also discusses: 📉 how the economic disaster of Black Wednesday led to positive change with the introduction of inflation targeting 🏰 his personal experiences guiding four British prime ministers through their premierships 🧘♂️ why the wellbeing agenda is important to him, and also the economic health of the nation 🧑💼 his ongoing mission to ensure the civil service is an effective force for public life, alongside the issues it currently faces. 👂 Have listen now: https://okt.to/5YmUqO #TheRestIsPolitics #Podcast #CivilService #GeneralElection #GeneralElection2024