Economics in policy-making - briefings

These briefings give a basic introduction to economics, and outlines its use in policymaking.

Sustainable fisheries make economic sense

A summary of nef fisheries research to date.

Fish dependence - 2013 update

The increasing reliance of the EU on fish from elsewhere.

Stakeholder Banks

Identifying successful alternatives to commercial banks.

Energising Money

The world is facing an ecological crisis. Our economic system fails to properly account for the natural resources on which human prosperity depends. But attempts to remedy the problem, for example through environmental taxation, fail to address an elephant lurking in the room: the monetary system. Energy-related money offers a means to improve the qualities of the monetary system, while also stimulating the low-carbon energy transition we urgently need.

High Speed 2: One track mind?

A year has passed since the Government decided to proceed with High Speed 2 (HS2), the prospective trans-national high speed rail scheme. During that time public attention may have drifted away from the merits and shortcomings of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) landmark project, but its significance as the single largest publicly funded transport project in UK history is undiminished.

The Prevention Papers

Just about everyone would agree that ourgoals are desirable. Where people differ is how to reach them. Some say themarkets should be in the driving seat, perhaps with some tweaks to regulation.Others insist that the future lies with voluntary and community- based organisations.Still others argue that government will have to take the lead, as the onlyinstitution that can curb the markets and deliver social equity. More

Budgets and Beyond

Exchange Traded Funds

While originally conceived as a cost efficient alternative to traditional asset management, which was frequently found to miss even its basic objectives, ETFs have since mutated into complicated, leveraged structures where investors have often unknown exposures to large investment banks. As a result, derivatives are being sold to the general public, despite people not having the expertise to understand that this will often result in the return on their investment differing significantly from the return on the underlying market that their money is tracking. More

nef Review of the Year 2011-12

We are into our second quarter century at nef, and are seeing a growing movement towards the Great Transition that we have been urging and predicting.

Every week brings more evidence that some senior politicians, business people and policy-makers are starting to see the problem and seeking us out for the answers. However, paradoxically, too many still see business as usual as the only answer.