Traditional economics tells us that to meet policy goals, government should only do the minimum needed to fix a ‘market failure’. A new understanding shows that when the goals are innovation and change, a ‘do the maximum’ approach can be more effective. We should stop aiming to achieve ‘decarbonisation at least cost’, and instead aim to move to the clean economy at maximum gain.

Science and central, national political structures are the two greatest modern institutional forms of authority. They can sometimes align and sometimes clash. Science and technology policy has, in the UK, been seen since the twentieth century as an important lever to encourage innovation and ultimately economic growth. Some of the most challenging issues facing politicians depend, partly, on scientific understanding and advice. This chapter reviews and assesses the experience of policy-for-science and science-for-policy under the Coalition and Conservative administrations. It is a pattern of modified continuity and the articulation of the possibility of radical change. Ultimately both, in ways that will be described, were undermined by the tumultuous events of Brexit and Covid.

Traditional economics tells us that to meet policy goals, government should only do the minimum needed to fix a ‘market failure’. A new understanding shows that when the goals are innovation and change, a ‘do the maximum’ approach can be more effective. We should stop aiming to achieve ‘decarbonisation at least cost’, and instead aim to move to the clean economy at maximum gain.