Jim O’Neill, the former Goldman Sachs chief economist who coined the term Brics to describe leading emerging markets, has been appointed commercial secretary to the UK Treasury, with special responsibility for city devolution and delivery of public sector infrastructure projects.
Mr O’Neill, 58, who will be made a peer, chaired the City Growth Commission until October 2014 and is heading a review into antimicrobial resistance, which will report next spring on how to address the challenge.
Many of the commission’s ideas underpinned chancellor George Osborne’s northern powerhouse strategy to boost economic development in the north of England. As part of that work, Mr O’Neill called for the creation of a northern supercity he tagged “ManSheffLeedsPool” to close the economic gap with London.
He said devolving power to Britain’s 15 biggest urban areas was also vital to curbing the budget deficit and national debt. It could boost the national economy by £79bn a year by 2030, adding 5 per cent to its size, the report said.
But he has dismissed calls for devolution to other areas, such as shire counties and smaller cities.
The son of a postman who attended a Manchester comprehensive school, Mr O’Neill — an avid Manchester United fan — will also support the chief secretary to the Treasury on capital investment and oversee corporate finance projects, including public corporations, public private partnerships, public financing projects and sales of government assets.
David Cameron is back in Downing Street for a second term after a victory that defied predictions to trounce Labour and win an outright majority in parliament
He invented the term Brics — Brazil, Russia, India, China — in 2001 in a highly influential paper written for Goldman Sachs, and later added the Mints (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey).
Mr O’Neill will replace former investment banker and London 2012 Olympics chief Lord Deighton, who spearheaded the last government’s infrastructure drive, which included responsibility for the contentious HS2 high-speed rail project. The position of commercial secretary is unpaid.
In March, Mr O’Neill told the Financial Times he had rejected many board positions and proposals since leaving Goldman Sachs.
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