ABSTRACT
Background One of the pieces of received wisdom which permeates a good deal of commentary on the UK economy is that the level of investment here is in some sense too low. This view has certainly been a major theme of CBI lobbying for many years, and the problem is believed to have several dimensions. For example, there is concern about the level of public capital investment, especially in infrastructure, as well as about the private business sector. We have in fact argued both that there is not enough investment, and that changes in government policy, in the areas of investment incentives and/or of saving, are necessary to resolve this problem.
