Where was the plan to secure a thriving future for workers and communities supported by the Grangemouth oil refinery? Where were the commitments to harness and develop the existing skills of workers in the transition, and the proactive policies to reskill and retrain workers?

NEW: Critics of rent controls say that “all economists know they don’t work, and have failed everywhere they’ve been tried”. But is this actually true? In our new long-read, Laurie Macfarlane finds the evidence is far more nuanced: futureeconomy.scot/posts/57-can-r…

An exceedingly sensible thread from Laurie (as usual) on the evidence around rent controls and why they should be considered as part of a wider package of measures.

The landlord lobby insists rent controls “have failed wherever they’ve been tried” and would lead to a housing-market apocalypse. But isn’t this just scaremongering? In-depth examination of the history and practice of rent controls by Laurie Macfarlane. 🏘️ futureeconomy.scot/posts/57-can-r…

Excellent thread and article explaining how effective rent controls can be. Key is to situate them within a suite of policies that would include council (or Community Land Trust!) buybacks of any properties that private landlords now wish to sell under these new conditions.

Long read but a very balanced take on rent controls

Well worth a read! 👇

V good analysis

The Scottish Government has pledged to introduce rent controls, but some critics say they never work. What does the evidence say? Read our new analysis by Laurie Macfarlane futureeconomy.scot/posts/57-can-r…

It is often claimed that rent controls never work. But is this actually true? Our new analysis looks at the evidence, and finds that well-designed rent controls could help tackle Scotland’s housing crisis futureeconomy.scot/posts/57-can-r…

From the FT: “Rent controls need not stop big investors from funding new homes, one of the world’s largest landlords has said” ahttps://on.ft.com/4gqStFJ

“We do not see how the planned ‘decade of national renewal’ can take place if these cuts are delivered” Cutting investment (in capital or public services) would be economically and socially disastrous More top economists express their concern in the FT ft.com/content/b0df31…

Great sessions today with Scottish First Minister John Swinney, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes MSP & key members from across the government. We discussed what it takes to adopt a mission-oriented economic strategy, aligning social & environmental with economic objectives. Read

We were privileged to join Mariana Mazzucato in a session with John Swinney and Kate Forbes MSP to discuss how a mission-oriented approach could transform Scotland’s economy Read our latest report with UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose here: futureeconomy.scot/publications/6…

Rent stabilisation just makes sense. Thread from Laurie Macfarlane