We assist both governments and businesses on market access barriers, trade policy issues and advice on international trade agreements. We also provide expertise on customs policy and law.
Focusing on the interconnectedness of trade, competition, regulatory and property rights policy, we have developed a unique approach to economic development policy. Outcomes include both general economic growth and poverty alleviation. The deployment of Special Economic Zones and freeports is one way we achieve such goals.
Economic Policy issues Competere consults on included developing and deploying customized economic models for government and business.
We advise government and business on competition policy and antitrust.
Our verdict on the Budget is out! While overall tax revenue may increase by a little over £35 billion in a year, this will be more than offset by the requirement to borrow in excess of £50 billion a year by 2030/31 as a result of the 3.4% hit to growth. In other words, the Chancellor has created a new fiscal black hole.
On the day that Rachel Reeves presented the new government’s first Budget, the Growth Commission 14-point plan to get the UK economy growing again was discussed on GB News by Chairman Shanker Singham.
On October 24 2024, the UCL Department of Political Science hosted a seminar entitled "Priorities for the new UK Government: Economic growth (and its limits)", addressed by a panel of three, including Shanker Singham.
In advance of Rachel Reeves presenting the new government’s first Budget next week, the Growth Commission has published a 14-point plan to get the UK economy growing again. In advance of Rachel Reeves presenting the new government’s first Budget next week, the Growth Commission has published a 14-point plan to get the UK economy growing again.
This report was released at a public event October 22 in London, addressed by Growth Commission Chairman Shanker Singham, and former Co-Chairman Douglas MacWilliams.
At an event co-sponsored by the IEA and the Growth Commission, a new report on the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), authored by Growth Commission Chairman Shanker Singham, was released. The report warns that UK adoption of the EU standard would have significant negative impact on UK per capita GDP.
The event was addressed by Lord Hannan of Kingsclere, who is the President of the Institute for Free Trade, Rod Richardson, President of the Grace Richardson Fund, and Shanker Singham.
It is important for Conservatives to give credit where credit is due, and not to simply oppose everything the Government does for the sake of opposing it. This is a mistake that many opposition parties make. It can have long term consequences – such as when Republicans opposed the Trans Pacific Partnership, which was originally a George W Bush initiative taken up by President Obama. The forces unleashed conspired to cause the US to drop out of CPTPP, a major geostrategic error.....
A fireside chat hosted by George Mason University's Mercatus Center featured Casey Mulligan (University of Chicago), Alden Abbott (Mercatus Center) and Shanker SIngham.
From The Telegraph 10 July 2024:
" Chinese giant BYD will avoid paying tariffs on electric cars exported to Britain after announcing plans for a massive factory in Turkey.
The company is expected to invest $1bn (£780m) in the new facility, which will have the capacity to produce up to 150,000 electric and hybrid models each year".... Read entire article by clicking below.
On Saturday, June 22, Shanker Singham opened the conference of the Together UK Foundation entitled "Strength of the UK" held at the University of Buckingham. Singham addressed the overall context for the changes going on in international and UK trade policy.
Together UK Foundation is a non-party political organisation launched by Baroness Arlene Foster in 2022.
Shanker Singham, Co-Chair of the Growth Commission, wrote the following: "As we draw closer to the election, both Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak have said that they will prioritise growth. So with both main parties talking at least nominally about wealth creation, the important things to consider are precisely how wealth is created and who is most likely to deliver it. " Read more....
On April 23, 2024 Shanker Singham was amongst the expert witnesses testifying on the subject of "Export-Led Growth" before the Commons' Business and Trade Committee hearing. Singham, in reference to the issue raised concerning SME's, announced the new Trade Facilitation Commission, and urged the MPs to examine the approach of the new Commission.
A clip of Shanker Singham on BBC Radio 4's Weekly Podcast, The Food Programme. In this clip from the full show, Jaega Wise interviews Shanker Singham on controls and checks on SPS goods, and Brexit more generally.
From Shanker SIngham:
My colleague on the Trade Facilitation Commission, Lars Karlsson has just written a very important piece of trade corridors and special zones, hinting at global neural networks for trade working in smarter ways. It is attached here.
The international competitiveness of America’s innovative industries is at risk from Chinese government actions that distort markets to favor Chinese competitors. These actions go far beyond flouting the international trade rules China agreed to when it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, as explained in the U.S. Trade Representative’s 2023 Report to Congress on China’s WTO compliance, issued last month......
Just prior to the March 6 release of Jeremy Hunt's proposed budget, Growth Commission Co-Chair Shanker Singham speaks to GBNews concerning the budget and the findings of the Growth Budget proposal just released by the commission.
On February 28, 2024, Lord Johnson, the Minister of State (Investment) for the UK's Department of Trade, introduced the newly released report issued by the Institute for Free Trade entitled "Improving the UK-Morocco Relationship - Unlocking Untapped Potential". The report was written by Shanker Singham.
An event at Westminster was the occasion for the release of the new report by the Growth Commission. The event was addressed by the co-chairmen Douglas McWiliiams and Shanker Singham.
As the introduction to the report states: "In this budget we describe the policy changes which we believe will be necessary to transform the economy and generate faster economic growth in per capita terms."
The benefits of free trade for improving the relationship between the longstanding allies, the UK and Morocco, are highlighted in a new report issued by the Institute for Free Trade. The new report, entitled "Improving the UK-Morocco Relationship - Unlocking Untapped Potential", was authored by Shanker Singham who is shown above at the recent IFT launch event.
Following comments by Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt's comments concerning the UK's Spring Budget, Carole Walker of Times Radio interviewed Growth Commission Co-Chairman Shanker Singham to elicit his views on the government's perspective.
In the face of the announcement of a 3000 job loss in the steel sector at Port Talbot, Shanker Singham discussed an approach to solving the underlying problems that have been plaguing the UK steel sector for some time. Shanker discussed this as part of a panel on Jacob Rees-Mogg's "State of the Nation" on GB News.
The Cebr has reported that the UK economy was set to retain its sixth-placed global ranking, closing in on Germany and putting a gap between itself and France.
Comparing the UK with the sluggish economies of Western Europe may help disguise the overall stagnant condition of the British economy. But we should not forget that GDP per capita figures show the UK – which is trapped in a doom-loop of high taxes and low growth – is trending in the wrong direction.....
Drawing on a range of global case studies, Market Distortions in Privatisation Processes illustrates the ways in which market distortions damaged the ability of privatisation processes to yield concrete benefits to consumers.
The book compares and contrasts privatisations of state-owned enterprises around the world where competition informed the regulatory design and thus liberated consumer welfare. In particular, the cases are drawn from the electricity and gas sector, the telecoms industry, and postal services – each of which has been frequently privatised in different context. For each industry, the book explores the UK and US experiences as well as looking at international cases from both developed and developing countries including, where appropriate, Japan, Colombia, Romania and Mexico. The emphasis is on analysing the impact that market distortions have had on the outcomes of those privatisations. The book also looks at how public service objectives were achieved and how they too can be designed in pro-competitive or anti-competitive ways.
This book will be of significant interest to readers in international business, economics, and law.
Trade, Competition and Domestic Regulatory Policy presents a unique combination of analysis of both international trade and investment policies, and competition and regulatory policies. Increasingly, policymakers, businesses and the law and economics professions need to better understand how changes and policy developments in international trade and competition developed and how their interaction impacts on global business.
In addition to providing a comprehensive analysis of the attempts of international trade theory and practice to deal with tariffs, non-tariff barriers, market distortions and failures to protect various kinds of property rights, this book contains a detailed treatment of how property rights protection, including intangible property rights are a critical element of ensuring open trade and competitive markets. It examines how these rights have developed over time, and how they have been integrated into trade and competition policy.
This book will be of significant interest to students of international business, professors of economics, law and business, and policymakers at the intersection of trade, investment, competition and property rights