Might we suggest that knowledge comes first, then thinking, then plans?

The “Onward” groupuscule has decided to favour us all with their plans for how the economy should be. We would, gently and in a very friendly manner you understand, suggest that knowledge comes first, then thinking about what is known, plans being the final stage in the process?

Around 60% of UK-listed equities are foreign owned, indicating inadequate deployment of Britain’s capital pools, with investment income accruing overseas.

Erm, yes.

As is well known - for we and everyone else write the same article when the pound falls and FTSE rises - some 75% of the revenue of FTSE100 companies comes from outside the UK. Some 50% for the FTSE250. And the two combined, the FTSE350, are by far the majority of the London market capitalisation.

So, yes, true, 60% of the market is owned by foreigners but something around that same 60% - -ish, -ish - is in fact foreign business. We’re not sure we’re worried about foreigners owning foreign business to be honest and we think it’s not a bad idea at all that we get to skim the transaction fees off their doing so.

And, well, if we were to look at that second fact alone we’d probably be suggesting that yes, there is an imbalance there, but it’s that too much of the London market is in fact in foreign. Not foreign hands, actually in foreign.

Now yes, this is partly mere pedantry. But we do think it betrays a certain woolliness of thinking - to be very polite and gentle about it. And we really are very certain that we’re only going to end up with a decent plan - for anything at all - if we start from facts and knowledge then do some real thinking.

The need to finance the current account deficit leaves Britain dependent on selling overseas investors its housing stock, its equities and its debt.

Entirely true, a curret account deficit always is, by definition, offset by a capital account surplus. But how important is this? Last time we looked national wealth had increased by some 50% of GDP over a year (pensions and houses had gone up by a trillion) and as this report says, the trade deficit that must be financed by selling assets to foreigners is 3.1% of GDP or so. At those sorts of rates foreigners pump money into the UK and end up owning an ever smaller fraction of our nation. We can’t see this as a problem.

So, our advice - know stuff first, then think about it, only then make a plan.