Now that Mark Carney has fired the Bank of England’s Brexit bazooka, it is time for the government and businesses to step forward. The Bank has cut interest rates, restarted its asset purchase programme and is encouraging banks to pass on the base cut to the real economy by providing them with £100bn of new funding. But this will not mean much unless the government, businesses and households take advantage.

At least, that is what some bloke called George Osborne says. The MP for Tatton popped up on Twitter to say that the Bank’s actions “must be matched by permanent supply side reform: lower business taxes, free trade with EU and unambiguous message we’re open to overseas investment”.

The former chancellor has not got much right in 2016, but business leaders will certainly agree with his latest comments. In fact, that is exactly what small- and medium-sized businesses were telling the prime minister, Theresa May, at a roundtable meeting on Thursday. The British Chambers of Commerce, which was at the meeting, called on the government to urgently address the “long-standing underinvestment in the UK’s infrastructure”.

Investment in infrastructure will encourage businesses to stop sitting on their hands and get spending. Last week, the government announced it would review plans to build a nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, a project Osborne had championed. The decision to reconsider the Franco-Chinese-funded power station is correct given the potential £30bn bill for consumers. But if the project is scrapped, then the government must state the alternative route it plans to take. As my colleague Terry Macalister writes, there are other ways to ensure that Britain does not suffer an energy shortage. Likewise, now is the time for the government to decide whether to expand Heathrow airport, whether to press ahead with High Speed 2, and what major roads it wants to modernise.

As the Olympic Games get started in Rio de Janeiro, Stratford in east London stands as a reminder that businesses are willing to invest when the government provides a platform. Critics may question the sporting legacy of London 2012 and the quality of the architecture at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, but Stratford and the surrounding area have been transformed by hosting the Olympics.

The government’s commitment to improving the infrastructure in the area led to Australian company Westfield building a £1.4bn shopping centre through the financial crisis of 2008. Foreign investors are now helping to fund a £2.3bn office development, while a host of new local businesses have sprung up or expanded in the area.

With Osborne’s target of returning government finances to a surplus by 2020 now scrapped, the new prime minister has a golden opportunity to get started with major infrastructure projects. The government can finance projects itself or with private investors, but it must ensure that the Bank’s efforts are rewarded.

Former Tesco executive Mason hits out

It is rare for any Tesco executive from Sir Terry Leahy’s era to comment on the state of the retailer today and what went wrong at the company, but when they do it is worth listening.

Tim Mason was, along with Leahy, the brains behind much of what we recognise as Tesco today – Clubcard, Tesco Express convenience stores, Tesco Finest and Tesco.com. He went on to become deputy chief executive and head of its US venture Fresh & Easy. However, he left under a cloud in 2012 when Leahy’s successor as Tesco boss, Philip Clarke, announced the company was pulling out of the failing US business.

Mason has made some fascinating comments in an interview with trade magazine the Grocer. He gives his backing to Dave Lewis, the current boss of Tesco, describing him as a decent man doing a good job and revealing that he texted him recently to tell him that Tesco Finest’s fresh pasta with pine nuts was better than Marks & Spencer’s.

However, what really stands out is the quiet evisceration of Clarke. Tesco, remember, reported a record £6.4bn loss shortly after he was sacked and is embroiled in a Serious Fraud Office investigation into its pricing.

When Mason is asked if he had a lucky escape because Clarke was chosen as Tesco chief executive ahead of him, he replies: “The external pressures were great, no doubt about that. But how you behave and how you perform under those pressures is the mark of the man. And it absolutely did not have to be the way it was.” Ouch.

Adidas’s gains are Mike Ashley’s loss

Poor Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods. The golfing superstars need to find themselves some new clubs now that Nike has announced it will stop making golf equipment.

However, the biggest loser from the latest round of the battle between Nike and Adidas, the two biggest sportswear brands in the world, could be Mike Ashley.

While Nike was announcing it is pulling out of golf, Adidas reported a 25% rise in sales in the second quarter of the year. This growth was underpinned by sales of football shirts, which increased thanks to Euro 2016.

This is a problem for Ashley because Adidas refuses to supply Sports Direct with replica football kits, presumably because it does not like how the retailer presents them and cuts the price.

If Adidas is managing to comfortably grow sales of its football shirts without dealing with Sports Direct, that is a worrying sign for Ashley and his business model.