Join The New Protest Movement – Fiscal Rebellion Top of the Charts 25 October 2019 Afternoon all, The Budget’s off. This is very good news for the RF team’s workload. But it is very bad news for democracy, if the election’s still on. That’s because no Budget means no updated Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts for our economy and public finances – forecasts that should provide crucial context for the … Continued READ MORE
Intergenerational Centre What is generational fairness? David Runciman speech on intergenerational fairness and political representation 21 October 2019 by Professor David Runciman This article summarises a speech by Professor David Runciman at a recent Intergenerational Centre event exploring what the concept of generational fairness means for our politics, economics and society. You can watch the full event on our event page. This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the Resolution Foundation. In the coming months … Continued READ MORE
A slowing, bickering, changing world Top of the Charts 18 October 2019 Afternoon all, So, Boris Johnson has chosen his Brexiteers over unionism. The EU have chosen getting it done versus hoping remainers get their act together. The DUP have chosen a rock, having been offered a hard place. Labour want to choose a referendum, but may get a general election. The slightly odd thing of course … Continued READ MORE
Skills Are higher-level apprenticeships going to better-off apprentices? What the new Department of Education statistics tell us 12 October 2019 by Kathleen Henehan This morning the Department for Education (DfE) published figures on the number of apprenticeships that were started in July 2019 – the final month of the 2018/19 academic year. And although the numbers are still provisional, they provide us with a pretty clear picture of how things shaped up for the apprenticeships sector. The big … Continued READ MORE
Tax For The Rich, Naps For The Poor Top of the Charts 11 October 2019 Afternoon all, The pressure has been building for years. Frustration has been mounting. But now it’s DECISION TIME, people. Which side are you on? Not on Brexit, or Extinction Rebellion vs the cops (which was all very friendly in the camp outside RF towers). No, on the real question facing 21st Century Britain: Coleen vs Rebekah. … Continued READ MORE
Efficiency vs happiness, talent vs practice – and military service vs crime? Top of the Charts 'Insights' round-up: September 2019 7 October 2019 The latest from Resolution Foundation Chief Executive Torsten Bell’s weekly Observer column, Insights. Read more of the latest economics and policy research in our weekly reading email, Top of the Charts (sign up here). Military service is not a magic bullet for reducing crime We’re in an era of “bring-backery” – blue passports are on the way … Continued READ MORE
WeWork wobbles as Warren woos workers Top of the Charts 4 October 2019 Afternoon all, Tory/Labour conferences* are done. Brexit is not. But you have to take what closure you can get. Labour had a lot of policy, but not a lot of unity, while the Tories managed unity on Brexit and not a lot of policy (a higher minimum wage was the big exception). Just like journalists and … Continued READ MORE
Robo-Taxes, Expensive Tweets And Equations For Art-Lovers Top of the Charts 13 September 2019 Afternoon all, So Parliament’s off. The Speaker is too (rather more permanently). This is clearly a crisis. With millions of Brits addicted to the nightly Commons meltdowns, dark times are ahead. Where we once had soaps, all that’s left these days is psephology. Now the addicts out there may get some relief from prorogation cold-turkey … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay The labour market is delivering on jobs and pay – it is vital for living standards that we keep it that way 10 September 2019 by Nye Cominetti A tight labour market is finally delivering decent pay growth. In the three months to July 2019, average weekly regular pay (i.e. excluding bonuses) grew by 1.9 per cent on the previous year (slightly down on the previous month). Given that average real pay grew by 2.1 per cent in the eight years prior to … Continued READ MORE
Leading Britain through Brexit: Five lessons for Boris Johnson 24 July 2019 by Torsten Bell When the history books of our era are written they will say that Britain had a huge financial crisis, then it left the EU. In those books Boris Johnson’s legacy as Prime Minister will be Brexit – and the politics and economics of Brexit are hard. Hard substantively, because they involve unravelling 40 years of … Continued READ MORE
Blowing the Budget and how to train your Dictator Top of the Charts 19 July 2019 Sign up for our weekly Top of the Charts email here Afternoon all, I’m afraid a rather serious mood is dominating at RF towers today. It’s Theresa May’s last weekend as Prime Minister. It’s (probably) Boris Johnson’s last weekend for a while without that responsibility sitting on his shoulders. She should, and I’m sure will be, sad … Continued READ MORE
Intergenerational Centre War and peace – David Willetts reviews two of the latest books on Intergenerational equity for the Financial Times 3 July 2019 by David Willetts Class used to predict how people would vote in Britain and elsewhere — in 1974 if you were a member of the working class you were three times more likely to vote Labour than Conservative. Now the distribution of votes by class in the UK is almost even between Labour and Conservative: the new divide … Continued READ MORE
Wealth & assets· Housing Who owns Britain’s £13tn wealth? 2 July 2019 by George Bangham Britain is in the middle of a decades-long wealth boom. Total wealth now stands at a record £12.8tn, or almost 13 million millions. But where you live, and when you were born plays a big part in how much of that wealth you are likely to own. In the 1960s and 1970s, Britain’s collective wealth … Continued READ MORE
Roasting, rocking and roaring across Britain Top of the Charts 28 June 2019 Afternoon all, The country’s roasting, Glastonbury’s rocking, and the Lionesses are roaring into the World Cup semi-final. The only people letting the side down are our cricket team. Now I’m no expert on bat/ball games, but I fear they’ve been paying just a bit too much attention to Boris. Surely the point of being the … Continued READ MORE
Rising floors and tumbling walls Top of the Charts 14 June 2019 Afternoon all, It’s time for a break from the rain and the ludicrous tax cut promises the Tory leadership election has given us (on which more below). So not only does this week’s Top of the Charts come to you from (ludicrously hot) Vienna but we’ve gone all international in our reads. From big moves … Continued READ MORE
Productivity & industrial strategy· Labour market· Pay Two and a half reasons to be cheerful about our strong and stable labour market 11 June 2019 by Nye Cominetti Today’s labour market statistics were, to use a technical term, boring. In a world of high political and economic drama, our labour market has served up headline measures of real pay growth and employment which basically haven’t changed for four months in a row. We shouldn’t bemoan unchanging numbers. Like air travel and digging tunnels, … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Tax· Political parties and elections Tax cuts for the rich is not the answer to the questions 21st century Britain is asking 10 June 2019 by Torsten Bell Politics is about answering the question the country is asking at that time, and in that place. Context matters. This fact seems to have escaped the notice of a number of candidates in the rather crowded field to be the next Conservative leader, judging by the single focus of many of their big ideas: massive … Continued READ MORE
No, you can’t always get what you want Top of the Charts 31 May 2019 Afternoon all, Donald Trump is coming. Obviously this isn’t about us getting what we want, but maybe it’s exactly what our divided country needs. For the same reason he’s such a deeply divisive figure in the US (due to the whole misogyny/stoking racial divides schtick) maybe he’ll provide us with some much-needed unity via an … Continued READ MORE
The Ides of May Top of the Charts 24 May 2019 Afternoon all, It’s all a bit last days of Caesar in Westminster – we’re definitely in the Ides of May. There was no going back once the PM crossed the Rubicon broke bread with Corbyn. Andrea Leadsom struck the first blow, and it finally ended today with the immortal words ‘et tu Brute Brady?’ The bad omen news for … Continued READ MORE
Respite From A Week Of Shocking Shocks Top of the Charts 17 May 2019 Afternoon all, It’s been a week of BIG shocks. Theresa’s off. Who knew. Boris is running. Gosh. Labour’s said it won’t do a deal on Brexit. Well knock me down with a WAB. We’re too unequal a country. Quelle surprise. And the climax to Game of Thrones involves a lot of people dying. Who saw that coming. Then again maybe … Continued READ MORE
Let’s Get Digging… Top of the Charts 10 May 2019 Afternoon all, I know it’s tough. Not only is a global trade war heating up, but it’s been pissing down all week. But it’s definitely time to perk up. We’re winning in Europe, football-wise at least. To an almost socially awkward degree. We’ve got a ROYAL baby of mixed race, and (apart from a few losers) we … Continued READ MORE
Cheaper cars, clothes, cabs and catheters Top of the Charts 3 May 2019 Afternoon all, Hope all your houses are enjoying their (electoral) plague today. It probably shouldn’t be much of a surprise. The public’s opinion of our politics is at its lowest ebb on record, while just this week one MP managed to get himself sacked for (allegedly) telling the truth when the rules are he shouldn’t … Continued READ MORE
Firms· Productivity & industrial strategy· Labour market The word on the high street 18 April 2019 by Daniel Tomlinson The way we shop in the UK has changed dramatically in just the space of a decade. In 2008 less than five per cent of retail spending was online, and that share has almost quadrupled in the years since. The latest statistics published just this morning show that in March this year almost a fifth … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay Real wage growth has finally returned to pre-referendum levels 16 April 2019 by Charlie McCurdy Today’s labour market stats has bought good news in terms of both jobs and pay. Employment remains at a record high and unemployment at a 40 year low. But what really stands out in today’s figures is real wage growth. This has finally returned to pre-referendum levels providing a long awaited boost to real earnings … Continued READ MORE
Housing Social housing: time for change – and for long-term investment 12 April 2019 by Kate Henderson Guest post from Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation This week the Resolution Foundation is throwing a welcome spotlight on the future of housing for social rent, and I’m really pleased to be a part of this important conversation about how the nation provides affordable housing for people who need it most. … Continued READ MORE
