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
Low pay· Labour market· Cities and regions Why city regions should be leading the charge on tackling low pay 3 March 2019 by Fahmida Rahman Low pay in Britain is an issue of national importance. With around one-in-five employees classed as low paid, the share of Brits who fall into this category remains well above the levels achieved by the best-performing countries in the OECD. That said, within Britain, there are huge disparities in terms of where low pay is … 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
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
Labour Market Outlook· Labour market· Pay Will 2019 see a ‘new dawn’ for pay? 3 February 2019 by Nye Cominetti What does 2019 have in store for pay? 2018 was the year in which we left behind the pay squeeze of 2017. Nominal growth increased throughout the year, reaching 3 per cent for the first time in a decade. Will this momentum continue into 2019? The Bank of England thinks so. It forecasts average pay … 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
Labour market· Skills The post-levy Apprenticeship regime is finally taking shape 27 January 2019 by Kathleen Henehan Another year, another round of worries about the impact of the Apprenticeship Levy. Are the number of starts continuing to fall; are they all being converted to MBA-level courses; and will there be further changes to the levy? Last year, the stock answer to these questions was “wait and see.” But, as we approach the … 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
Labour market· Pay Tight labour market breaks new ground on jobs 22 January 2019 by Stephen Clarke The UK labour market continues to confound. It seemed as though the seven year spurt in employment that began in late 2012 had come to an end in 2018. The number of people in work barely increased in the summer of last year and even fell in the three months to August. However, unlike many … 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
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· Pay· Inequality & poverty The £3.2bn pay penalty facing black and ethnic minority workers 27 December 2018 by Kathleen Henehan It’s that time of the year when everyone does their reviews of 2018. The political review of the year will inevitably be dominated by the thrills and spills of Brexit. But for those interested in public policy, a strong contender for the Resolution Foundation’s ‘policy that could make a big difference to people’s living standards’ … Continued READ MORE
Housing Home ownership is rising, but the crisis is far from over 22 December 2018 by Daniel Tomlinson Across the country today hundreds of thousands of twenty and thirtysomethings are heading back to their parents’ homes for Christmas. Most (around two-thirds) of these parents are home owners, but the same cannot be said for their kids. Home ownership rates have fallen across all age groups in the UK in recent decades, with the … 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
Labour market Enforce the rules to help workers in Britain’s changing workforce 17 December 2018 by Lindsay Judge It’s here at last. Almost a year and a half after the Taylor Review was published and four consultations on, the government has finally released its plan of action to improve the quality of jobs in the UK. So is this an early Christmas present for the millions of people who work through an agency, … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances Hitting the books: student loans and the public finances 16 December 2018 by Matthew Whittaker With everything that’s going on in British politics right now, it’s easy to forget that the government was celebrating some seriously good news just seven weeks ago. You might remember that the Chancellor got handed a £74 billion fiscal windfall at the Budget that allowed him to deliver the long-promised extra spending on the NHS … 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
Labour market Good tidings from the UK labour market 11 December 2018 by Nye Cominetti Earlier this year, in a fit of optimism, the ONS moved its monthly labour market stats release from Wednesday to Tuesday morning so that the data would have proper scrutiny before PMQs. With little in the way of voting going on, MPs can now spend the next 24 hours poring over the latest employment and … Continued READ MORE
Counting snores and learning from wars Top of the Charts 23 November 2018 Afternoon all, Had enough of the Brexit chat yet? Thought so. Luckily we’re definitely not going to spend the next 10 years having the same conversation over and over and over again… Oh yes we are. It’s going to be like Groundhog Day. Without the happy ending. To get through the week I’ve been focusing … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Migration Migratory patterns in Britain’s labour market 13 November 2018 by Stephen Clarke More records tumbled in the UK labour market this summer. On jobs, we had good news on quantity and quality as the people in full-time employment reached a record high of nearly 24 million. And this record high is all the more striking as it came alongside a record fall in the number of EU … Continued READ MORE
Firms· Labour market Relocation, relocation, relocation – why workers in firms are increasingly staying put 13 November 2018 by Stephen Clarke Channel 4 (or at least some of it) is off to Leeds. Some staff may be relishing the move, some may have wanted to move to Manchester or Birmingham, while others may have just wanted to stay put. Despite the mixed feelings one thing is undisputed; Channel 4 staff are now part of an increasingly … Continued READ MORE
The dangers of excess cash bags and hashtags Top of the Charts 9 November 2018 Afternoon all, I know you’re all obsessed with the US mid-term elections this week, but I’ve got some lifestyle advice for you: it’s not good for your blood pressure. Not only does reading lots about it remind you that Donald Trump exists, but you may have noticed that – unless you’re a US citizen over … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Wellbeing and mental health· Housing· Time use· Intergenerational Centre All aboard the Millennial Express – longer commutes for less pay 8 November 2018 by Nye Cominetti The ONS serve to uplift and depress analysts like me in equal measure. And today they served up the latter, with new figures showing that the number of people commuting for more than an hour to get into work has increased by almost a third (31 per cent) since 2011. Longer commutes are good news … Continued READ MORE
