Episode
#182 - Julian Jessop - Big Government Broke the Growth Model
- Podcast
- The Peter McCormack Show
- Published
- Jun 6, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3963
- Processing state
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Summary
Julian Jessop joins me to discuss what has gone wrong with the British economy and whether the country can still turn things around. Julian argues that Britain’s problems are largely self-inflicted: weak productivity, high taxes, too much regulation, poor energy policy, a bloated state and politicians choosing popular policies over evidence. We discuss why the state has become too big, why the tax system is holding back growth, and why government intervention in housing, energy and the labour market is making people poorer. I also ask Julian about Reform, the Greens, Labour, the Conservatives, Makerfield, Liz Truss, Milei, the NHS, digital ID, Brexit, AI, free markets and whether Britain still has a path back to economic sanity. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The State Got Too Big 00:00:57 - What Went Wrong With Britain? 00:03:16 - Productivity, Policy Mistakes and AI 00:04:43 - Did Covid Make Government Too Powerful? 00:06:25 - Is Democracy the Problem? 00:08:10 - Vibe-Based Policy 00:10:21 - Young People and the First Job Problem 00:13:06 - Can Britain Turn This Around? 00:15:36 - Protest Votes and Broken Politics 00:17:29 - Reform’s Policies Under Scrutiny 00:20:15 - The State Helps Big Business 00:21:40 - Britain’s 90 Taxes 00:23:03 - Thatcher, Liz Truss and Economic Competence 00:26:20 - Why Free Markets Are a Hard Sell 00:30:15 - Could Poland Overtake Britain? 00:30:41 - Short-Term Politics and Weak Leadership 00:39:46 - What Is Extreme Now? 00:42:00 - Do Voters Understand the Trade-Offs? 00:45:57 - Does Britain Need a Milei? 00:48:24 - How Big Should the State Be? 00:49:40 - Why People Defend the NHS 00:54:01 - Why Government Tech Fails 00:55:09 - Makerfield, Burnham and…