Speeches by Yang.

“It is clear that there is a problem, but it is unclear where the problem lies and what the actual trend is—is that the correct summary of what you are saying, Mr Johnson?”

“It just seems to me that the picture of the underlying data is complex and often quite vague. Is that correct?”

“What is your central estimate of sickness-related inactivity, given the difficulty you describe in getting precise numbers?”

“The Chancellor has rightly championed economic stability, in stark contrast to the previous Government—indeed, in stark contrast to the previous five Chancellors. Yet, as she has said, the world is becoming more unstable, and that global instability feeds through to rapid changes in official projections, which can cons…”

“Is the reason that you have not yet done an impact assessment of potential cash ISA changes that you do not see them as live proposals, or is there another reason?”

“I very much agree with that sentiment. Young people are the future, and to ensure they get off to the best possible start in life, they need work that pays and enables them to live in stability, not concerned about paying the bills from day to day or month to month. Most young people nowadays have to do a mixture of wo…”

“I absolutely agree. As the Women’s Budget Group has shown, the measures on the minimum wage in the Employment Rights Bill will disproportionately benefit female workers, who are likely to be paid less than men. These studies on the minimum wage use econometric methods to confirm what many of us can see in our communiti…”

“We have heard how the rise in the national minimum wage will deliver a direct pay increase for over 3 million workers. For the first time in history, the minimum wage in this country is being linked to the true cost of living, beginning the journey of making it a genuine living wage. We can take from history a wealth o…”

“Yes, that is the case. We have heard such concerns raised throughout history, yet when we look at econometric evidence that looks in hindsight at the actual impact on the economy, we see that there is no discernible impact. I will whizz through a few different studies. In the United States there is David Card and Alan …”

“You are looking at consumers perhaps in their late 30s or 40s who have bought their first home. They are relatively well off in that they have those savings. Is that the kind of demographic you are looking at shifting? Can you paint a picture of who you are thinking about?”

“If you were to take every single consumer in the UK—although of course you do not have personal insight into their minds—do you think all those different groups across income spectrums and different demographics could be shifted to more risk-taking behaviour in their investments, with better education, better advice, b…”

“My colleague, Ms Blake, will go on to discuss the advice guidance boundary review. Before we get to that, is it your overall view that, so long as consumers are given the appropriate guidance and access to good advice, investment behaviour will shift over the long run? Or do you also see that there are groups of low-in…”

“Based on the research that you have done in the past on consumer behaviour, as well as your previous comments, Mr Alder, about investment culture in the UK and the lack of retail investment culture compared to, for example, Hong Kong and other areas, what would the impact of changing the cash ISA arrangements be in ter…”

“In our last session on the lifetime ISA, Anne Fairweather told us that the FCA is due to publish research on consumer saving and investment behaviour. I was wondering whether that has been done already, what the timeline is for that and what the questions are.”

“I have some questions about cash savings and, in particular, the cash ISA, following the speculation in the FT about lowering the £20,000 cap on the cash ISA and switching to cash and equities ISAs. Has the FCA done any impact assessment on the different groups this would impact, if the change were made?”

“Professor Moloney, in your questionnaire you mentioned that consumer and household interests were overlooked in much of the financial crisis era financial stability debates. I was wondering whether you could discuss that a bit more. What was overlooked and why do you think that was overlooked?”

“Right now, would you say that you are happy with the level of consumer voice represented in these regulatory discussions?”

“I strongly congratulate the Secretary of State on the £1 billion package of employment support. Many active labour market policies have been shown to have considerable economic impact. Historically, it has been difficult for the Office for National Statistics to score the positive impacts of active policies, as opposed…”

“You mentioned also in your question the dangers of groupthink and discussions around the societal consequences of groupthink for the most vulnerable. We recently had the news that the PRA has decided not to introduce new rules on reporting diversity and inclusion metrics, which is something that this Committee has prev…”

“Whose responsibility is it to do that more than is done today?”