Wheels spinning, going nowhere: What's keeping British banks from supporting economic growth?

Article

IPPR trustees David Claydon and Clive Hollick argue that the big banks really are in much better shape now, and that it is inconsistent and unpredictable regulation that is inhibiting their ability to support economic growth.

Claydon and Hollick challenge the 'rhetoric of risk', which demands that the banking sector pursues ever-more conservative trading conditions and results in counterproductive moves by the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee. In the authors' words, banks are like patients who have been rehabilitated but are still required to behave like they're ill. The outcome is that they are unable to play a full role in lending to support economic growth, punishing the valuable SMEs sector and creating social problems around housing and personal finance.

Related items

  1. The political trust crisis: Why local democracy must start listening again

    A troubling reality hangs over May’s local elections: trust in politics has collapsed.
  2. Close Up Of Female Care Worker In Uniform Holding Hands Of Senior Man Sitting In Care Home Lounge

    Putting cardiovascular disease at the heart of policymaking: Learning from research in the devolved nations

    Deaths from heart attacks and strokes have halved since the 1960s and people living with these conditions have seen remarkable improvements in managing and treating them. But now progress is stalling.
  3. A photograph of part of the Plymouth coastline on a bright sunny day. A row of large white hotels beneath a blue sky.

    Community cohesion and asylum accommodation: Understanding local perspectives

    Exploring why asylum hotels have generated different responses across the country, and what conditions support cohesion within communities.