Speeches by Coghlan.

“Dr Surico, on our previous discussion, there is a lot of scepticism about the MOD’s ability to deliver in terms of new equipment and procurement. How should one best do innovation in defence?”

“Dr Surico, do you believe that if the Government spent an extra blackhole-sized £20 billion a year on R&D and crowded in an extra £40 billion in private R&D, in five years’ time, if executed properly, it would be possible for us to be a fast-growing advanced economy like South Korea? How would you finance that?”

“What qualities do you think the Government need to actively pursue to ensure that the conditions are there for the National Wealth Fund to be successful?”

“In the OBR’s fiscal outlook, it notes that, with the new debt measure—public sector net financial liabilities—there are potential incentives there for the Government to invest through loans and equities via the National Wealth Fund, rather than having them on its own balance sheet, because that does not contribute to t…”

“I would like to come in with a question. On your point around the National Wealth Fund potentially issuing bonds, how would that impact interest rates, or how could we ensure that issuing large volumes did not have a significant impact on interest rates?”

“Building on Yuan Yang’s question, is part of it not that Government R&D would be more focused towards basic research, and then there is the National Wealth Fund? Because you need some form of financial return—even if slightly negative—you presumably cannot do basic research through the National Wealth Fund.”

“Mr Kumar, I am slightly surprised by your answer to John Glen on defence spending, because we heard yesterday from Dr Surico that defence spending, when tilted towards R&D, is one of the best ways of driving long-term economic growth. In fact, the Chancellor upgraded our long-term GDP forecast by £11 billion a year in …”

“It is when you use defence spending specifically for defence R&D. You are absolutely right that consumption, buying artillery shells or whatever, does not do anything—or does not do much. The reason for that effect is because of the spillovers into civilian technology. In fact, I believe there is an example in the spen…”

“As you have argued in your blog, if you are not seeing failure in the fund, you probably have not succeeded because you haven’t got your risk-reward calibration correct.”

“What qualities do you think the Government need to actively pursue to ensure that the conditions are there for the National Wealth Fund to be successful?”

“In the OBR’s fiscal outlook, it notes that, with the new debt measure—public sector net financial liabilities—there are potential incentives there for the Government to invest through loans and equities via the National Wealth Fund, rather than having them on its own balance sheet, because that does not contribute to t…”

“Dr Surico, thank you for coming in today—as a London Business School alumnus, I feel like I am back in class. We keep hearing about the doom loop of ever-higher debts, crumbling public services and ever-higher taxes. The Government rightly identify that the way out is growth, so what is the main driver of economic grow…”

“What is the best way to increase that productivity?”

“We heard a lot in the spending review about research and development. What is the best way that the Government can support R&D?”

“With R&D, what is the best way for the Government to crowd in private investment and what is the payoff? How long before we see that translate into economic growth?”

“We have been in a productivity crisis since 2008. There is more focus on R&D now, but how is the UK doing on R&D compared to other advanced economies?”

“In the spring statement, the Chancellor used your research to upgrade long-term GDP by £11 billion a year, using a fiscal multiplier of 1.6, specifically on the increase on defence spending. How credible is that?”

“While I deplore the alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza, that should not cloud our view of the Iranian regime. As a British diplomat covering Syria, I saw how the Iranian regime was directly complicit in the torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians. I was a British soldier in Iraq in 2020, and the…”

“As the Chancellor knows, our economy will only escape its difficult place if we raise economic productivity. On the Treasury Committee, I introduced the Chancellor to London Business School’s Paolo Surico’s research on how using public R&D, and especially defence spending, can help us to do that. In the spring stat…”

“The Government will obviously be saying to you that they are very keen on growth, but are you worried that, at the moment, some tolerable harm could materialise and they will just blame the FCA?”