Bridging Divides Top of the Charts 12 April 2019 Afternoon all, Nothing Lasts Forever these days. In the end the whale spits you out, or the Ecuadorians kick you out. That might be good news for Brexit-fatigued Brits. But then again Assange was stashed in the embassy for seven years, so maybe we’re not even half way there…. Because holidays are calling, and it’s important for art … Continued READ MORE
Housing We need cash for social housing – but honesty and answers too 8 April 2019 by Torsten Bell and Resolution Foundation Analysis Housing has returned to British politics. Falls in home ownership have driven it there, but in so doing opened up a much needed debate about a long neglected issue: renting. Too often in recent decades the background assumption of housing policy has been that social renting is a declining tenure, and private renting a temporary … Continued READ MORE
Deadlines, downward mobility and debt Top of the Charts 5 April 2019 Afternoon all, The world revolves around deadlines. Some are moveable. Like Brexit. Others aren’t. Like the tax year. On the latter at least, the end really is nigh (today to be exact). And that means a fresh set of tax and benefit changes to contend with come this weekend. As part of our commitment to … Continued READ MORE
Tax New year, new era: tax and spend in 21st Century Britain 3 April 2019 by Torsten Bell and Resolution Foundation Analysis Eras of Britain’s political economy come and go. They ebb and flow, driven by political and economic cycles. Sometimes shifts are hard to see at the time, particularly when they are obscured by the political fog of war. Or Brexit, as it’s currently known. But noticed or not, the financial year starting this Saturday will mark the … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Low pay· Pay Minimum Wage 20th anniversary special Top of the Charts 29 March 2019 by Torsten Bell and Charlie McCurdy Afternoon all, It’s an historic day today. Lots of people were planning a party/wake. Big ones. But things have got derailed. No-one can agree on what to celebrate/mourn – or even when to celebrate/mourn it. There’s a serious danger no-one gets a party at all tonight. But don’t worry – TOTC is here to turn … Continued READ MORE
Demographics· Intergenerational Centre· Political parties and elections My Generation, Baby: The Politics of Age in Brexit Britain 29 March 2019 by Laura Gardiner and Torsten Bell Generational politics is nothing new, but the extent of the profound generational cleavage that has emerged in British electoral politics is novel. The Brexit vote and the 2017 general election put generational politics centre‐stage, eclipsing in some ways the traditionally dominant role of class. Our two main parties now rely on age‐based coalitions of support—on … Continued READ MORE
Green space envy, getting women on board(s) and a tribute to a Rockstar economist Top of the Charts 22 March 2019 Afternoon all, It’s alright – the military are getting involved. That’ll sort it out. Yes there’s political paralysis, but we’re talking boots on the ground people. I could not feel more reassured. Neither government or opposition has a proper Brexit plan, but Gavin Williamson has got a bunker and he’s damn well going to use it. To hold … Continued READ MORE
The Meaningful Read I, II, III, IV and V Top of the Charts 15 March 2019 Afternoon all, TOTCs is a safe space this week, a haven of tranquillity. You cannot vote on TOTC (meaningfully or otherwise). It cannot be amended or extended. It makes no claims to represent or to betray the unique will of the people. The only similarity it has to Theresa May is that, bad as the … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances Phil ‘Bullseye’ Hammond told MPs what they ‘could’ve won’ – if only they didn’t stuff up Brexit 14 March 2019 by Torsten Bell Last night Parliamentarians went all Noel Edmonds as they debated deal or no deal. But earlier in the day it was the late, great Jim Bowen of Bullseye fame that the Chancellor was channelling in his Spring Statement, setting out just what MP’s “could’ve won” – or might still win – if they back a … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Inequality & poverty· Economy and public finances Is rising inequality helping to swell the coffers for Fortunate Phil? 12 March 2019 by Torsten Bell Fortunate Phil is not what the Chancellor generally gets called. But as he prepares for tomorrow’s Spring Statement, Philip Hammond – despite facing what looks like headline bad news – has at least some reasons to be grateful for good luck on both the economic and political fronts. The Treasury is gearing up for the … Continued READ MORE
How to look after our towns, trade and toddlers Top of the Charts 8 March 2019 Afternoon all, Spring is spung. Or at least the Spring Statement is springing forth next Wednesday. It’s likely to be sandwiched between rather important Brexit votes, so don’t expect the usual media focus. But it’s worth thinking about what we should be discussing. To put it another way…. Imagine there’s no countries Brexit rows. It … Continued READ MORE
Five cunning plans to get us out of this mess… Top of the Charts 1 March 2019 Afternoon all, God’s not going to be giving the planet top marks on the progress score sheet this week. At home everyone’s gearing up for a Brexit decision delay, while on the other side of the world Donald Trump is denuclearising diddly-squat as his lawyer calls him a racist. So what the world needs is … Continued READ MORE
Inclusive, inconclusive and intoxicated Top of the Charts 22 February 2019 Afternoon all, It’s all kicking off. And that’s just the kids after a week of my half-term childcare. They’d definitely be setting up an Independent Group if they knew all it took was a quick press conference and two pages of A4. Fortunately they don’t, so I’m sticking with my heavily nuanced position on why … Continued READ MORE
At last! The key to happiness is… Top of the Charts 15 February 2019 Afternoon all, Career advice time. Want to feel perky? Get the right job, not just the right salary. Florists, priests…. and politicians are near the top of the well-being curve according to our deep dive into data on well-being this week. Now fair enough on the florists and priests end – I’d be happy pocketing what was being charged for … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Economy and public finances As growth slows UK households have already taken a £1,500 living standards hit since the referendum 11 February 2019 by Torsten Bell Today we learnt that economic growth slowed significantly at the end of 2018, with GDP only growing by 0.2 per cent in the last three months of the year. This is around a third of the pre-crisis average rate. In December alone, the economy contracted by 0.4 per cent with the manufacturing sector now having … Continued READ MORE
Deactivating Facebook, and taxing its founder instead Top of the Charts 8 February 2019 Afternoon all, We start this week with reassuring news for anyone scared about heading to a special place in hellbecause they haven’t got a Brexit plan – you won’t be lonely. No one else has one either. To increase the positivity we want to clarify that there’s a special place in RF heaven for any of … Continued READ MORE
Pretty geeks, screwed millennials and downbeat BRICs Top of the Charts 1 February 2019 Afternoon all, From this morning’s news you get the sense that half of Britain is snowed in. Now it’s just possible that the British media may have overreacted to a bit of sub-zero precipitation – in which case Top of the Charts is here to prevent you having to read another news story about how … Continued READ MORE
Time is money – whether you’re in Davos or Daventry Top of the Charts 25 January 2019 Afternoon all, Everyone’s off to Davos. Okay, not everyone – but a surprising number of white men have converged on one snowy village. But before you get all high and mighty, it’s not all chief execs and politicos – these days the World Economic Forum has gone downmarket enough to include royalty of the actual … Continued READ MORE
How Trump’s America can solve our crisis on the homefront Top of the Charts 18 January 2019 Afternoon all, It’s been an action packed week – with lots of chat but not many answers. So to help things along we’ve got a concrete suggestion. You may have heard we’ve got a civil servant CRISIS. 10,000 are already working on Brexit – but another 5,000 are needed. Department of Education staff are being … Continued READ MORE
High taxes, low returns and putting Manchester in charge of Brexit Top of the Charts 11 January 2019 Afternoon all, Yes we’ve got some thugs on the streets and constitutional uproar in the Commons. I can see how this feels a bit suboptimal. But you’re seeing this all wrong. Messy politics and scandals are really the foundation of our true national purpose – making surprisingly good TV. You can’t get the Brexit you … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Yellow jackets Top of the Charts 4 January 2019 Afternoon all, Welcome to 2019, a year which seems to have decided to use its first week to remind us that we are an island nation. I’ve not seen much news in recent days, but from the headlines I gather we’re spending our time stopping some actual boats crossing the Channel while paying a few … Continued READ MORE
Wealth & assets· Tax How wealth taxes can raise billions more without scaring any horses 3 January 2019 by Torsten Bell and Adam Corlett Raising taxes is never easy. Raising taxes with the government’s slim parliamentary majority is harder still. Raising taxes on wealth in those circumstances, given our diverging senses of fairness is… not a walk in the park. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need doing, and the good news is that significant progress can be made … Continued READ MORE
Labour market 2018’s lesson for its successor – look beneath the headlines Top of the Charts 28 December 2018 Morning all, Well survived Christmas. Just New Year to go. You can do it. To help prep for next week and the need for more creative New Year’s resolutions than eat nothing/drink nothing/run miles we’ve got a special edition of Top of the Charts below. It looks back at 2018, digging under the headlines to … Continued READ MORE
Resolution Times Christmas Special Top of the Charts 21 December 2018 Morning all, It’s the last working day before Christmas (Eve)* and so reading through the best economics research papers of the week is hopefully not at the top of your to-do list. If it is, don’t worry – you can get help for that. For the rest of you we’ve got a selection of Top … Continued READ MORE
Strong And Stable Britain Top of the Charts 14 December 2018 Afternoon all, Having spent this morning at the dentist enduring fairly nonstop pain for no real progress I have new found empathy for the Prime Minister’s experience this week. She can obviously take some comfort from the evidence that her would be assassins of the ERG variety are a bit more Johnny English than James Bond. There’s even … Continued READ MORE
