Britain Should Adopt a State-Led 'Wellbeing Economy' Investment Plan Funded Off-Market
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jamie-driscoll. "There is a way to look after people, the planet – and Britain’s growth. It’s what we call the ‘wellbeing economy’ | Jamie Driscoll | The Guardian." October 2, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author argues that Britain's young people are being failed because money isn't flowing into the things the country actually needs, like homes, energy, and transport. His solution is for the government to borrow from citizens directly through savings schemes (bypassing volatile bond markets) and commit to a 20-year building plan, which he says would create jobs, cut household bills, and pay for itself through increased tax revenue and reduced welfare costs.
Conclusion
Britain should implement a 20-year state-led investment plan (building green homes, renewable energy, transport, and public infrastructure) funded through off-market mechanisms like national savings bonds, rather than being constrained by bond-market-driven fiscal rules, because the state—not private capital—is the only entity capable of providing the long-term demand certainty needed to build infrastructure and improve national wellbeing.
Premises
- Britain's young people face insecurity (unemployment, housing problems, poor transport) because capital markets fail to allocate investment where it's needed
- Current fiscal rules are widely criticized by experts (e.g., Andy Haldane, IFS) as arbitrary, having been broken nine times since the financial crash, suggesting they are not fixed economic laws but political choices
- Businesses need long-term demand certainty (e.g., 20-year contracts) to invest in infrastructure like green hydrogen plants; only the state can guarantee such long-term orders
- Markets are good at providing simple consumer goods but fail to build large infrastructure like reservoirs, housing, and energy grids
- The state can fund this through off-market channels (National Savings and Investments, infrastructure ISAs) that are insulated from bond market volatility, since Britain already has underused savings and pension pools
- Investment in infrastructure and wellbeing (e.g., home retrofitting) generates returns via tax revenue, reduced welfare costs, and healthcare savings, as demonstrated by pilot programs (Sunderland COPD retrofit, North of Tyne training contracts)
- Britain has historically built major infrastructure (NHS, council housing) during periods of much higher relative national debt (post-1946), proving current debt levels are not a barrier to ambitious investment
Assumptions
- The state can efficiently and competently execute a 20-year infrastructure plan without significant waste, corruption, or mismanagement
- Off-market savings schemes (ISAs, National Savings) can raise sufficient capital to fund infrastructure at the scale needed without market distortions
- Inflation can be reliably controlled by sequencing investment (training workers and building supply chains before releasing money)
- Historical analogies (1946-1980 housebuilding) remain applicable to today's different economic, labor, and construction contexts
- Pilot program results (Sunderland retrofit, North of Tyne training) will scale nationally with similar efficiency
- Political will and bravery, rather than resource constraints, are the primary barriers to implementing this plan
- Public ownership and planning are necessary for effective long-term infrastructure delivery, rather than being achievable through regulated private partnerships