The party manifestos from the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats - those published by the time of writing - supported this notion, to a point. "Markets need rules and these rules need to be updated to reflect our changing economy," reads the Tory manifesto, as it proposed a range of restraints on the 'invisible hand' that guides the free movement of capital. Here are some takeaways.
Governance shake-up
To an extent, the election has pre-empted the government's consultation on corporate governance. After an annual general meeting season that has demonstrated the weakness of the annual 'advisory' executive pay vote, the Tories are proposing "strict annual votes" on pay packages, and to ensure that share buybacks are not used to artificially hit profit targets. The Labour party seeks a 20:1 ratio of highest-to-lowest paid for government suppliers, and an excessive pay levy on compensation above £330,000. The Lib Dems also want "binding and public votes" on pay.
The Conservatives have rowed back from requiring workers on boards, but still want employee representation - which could be simply a designated non-executive director NED. Labour want to amend company law to ensure directors have a duty "not only [to] shareholders, but to employees, customers, the environment and the wider public". Lib Dems want staff representation on remuneration committees.
Different levels of intervention
Takeover rules are destined for a rethink, regardless of who gets through the door of Number 10. Labour wants a plan to protect workers and pensioners at "systemically important" businesses, when a takeover bid arises. The Conservatives propose to legally enforce pre-deal promises and undertakings, and for the government to be able to pause deals to allow for scrutiny, while making sure that domestic security and essential services are not threatened by foreign ownership. The party proposes that the Pensions Regulator should also be given more power to stop transactions.
Plenty has been written about an energy cap. Labour wants to keep the average dual fuel bill below £1,000 a year, while Conservatives wish to extend a safeguard tariff cap and to protect customers who don't switch against "abusive price increases". The Labour plans go much further, including bringing private rail companies into public ownership, taking back control of energy supply networks, creating a network of publicly owned water companies, renationalising Royal Mail (RMG) - whose results are in this section - and breaking up Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) into regional banks. And breathe.
Spending at a time of Brexit
The usual promises of infrastructure investment abound. The Tories' £23bn National Productivity Investment Fund will target housing, research and development, economic infrastructure and skills. Labour's National Transformation Fund promises £250bn (over 10 years) to invest in the nation's housing, rail, science, renewable energy and superfast broadband. Lib Dems promise £100bn towards the same.
All and any of this will have to be achieved against the backdrop of the new government's Brexit negotiations. The Lib Dems are campaigning for a second referendum on the deal's terms. The Conservatives have already clashed with the business lobby over the party's target to return net migration to the tens of thousands, rather than the hundreds of thousands. Proposals include tightening the student visa programme, and doubling the Immigration Skills Charge levied on companies that employ migrant workers to £2,000 a year for each non-EU worker.
Labour, desiring a Brexit deal that retains the "benefits" of the single market and the customs union, is less rigid on immigration. But while this is more in step with business's needs, it does propose a corporation tax rate on larger companies of 26 per cent in 2020, to help pay for its other policies, while the Conservatives plan to reduce it to 17 per cent by that year. These are indeed contrasting visions of intervention.
