Bouncy floors, sticky ceilings and why you should watch what you search for Top of the Charts 6 July 2018 Afternoon all, It’s the knockout stage. In or out. The tension is unbearable. Or just mildly irritating depending on your degree of perspective…. Today’s Brexit showdown at Chequers is set to expose splits in the government and country, but tomorrow’s England game will bring us all back together so it’ll all be fine – right? … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Cities and regions Tackling London’s living standards exodus 2 July 2018 by Conor D’Arcy Everyone knows housing is a disaster in London. This is most obvious in the ludicrous prices that properties fetch, but London’s housing problems stretch well beyond having to fork out over half a million pounds for a poky flat in Zone 2. For a start, the way people are housed in London has changed dramatically … Continued READ MORE
Hype, hubris and a solution to England’s penalty shoot-out woes Top of the Charts 29 June 2018 Afternoon all, Everyone being a bit rubbish has made this quite a good World Cup so far. Unfortunately it hasn’t had quite the same effect on British politics as the “no-one really has a Brexit plan” roadshow rolls on – but here’s hoping. After all things will only get tougher when facing Boris, Gavin and … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Productivity & industrial strategy· Cities and regions Poor productivity and high housing costs are driving a ‘living standards exodus’ from London 27 June 2018 by Stephen Clarke As a Londoner it’s fair to say that as a city we’re quite good at giving ourselves a pat on the back (though apparently self-loathing Londoners are a thing too). It’s often suggested that London is an economic powerhouse, productive, innovative and leaving the rest of the country in its wake. However new research by … Continued READ MORE
Housing Housing stress is up – and has shifted. Our debate on social housing needs to keep up 23 June 2018 by Lindsay Judge and Torsten Bell It’s a year on from Grenfell, a tragedy that has taught everyone that social housing has to return to its proper place in national debate. There’s been good progress on this front already: there are fora that give a voice to those living in social rented homes; projects which seek to define the purpose of social … Continued READ MORE
Under-valued carers, over-valued technocrats and charts win minds Top of the Charts 22 June 2018 Good morning, Everyone likes a surprise – this week we got two. First we learnt that a Conservative government will openly seek to increase public spending by both borrowing more and raising taxes. And then, even more shockingly, it turns out that England are not in fact legally barred from winning the opening game of … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Prices & consumption· Inequality & poverty· Tax No, the poorest don’t pay higher taxes than the richest 20 June 2018 by Adam Corlett We all know that parts of the tax system are very progressive – and this should be very apparent in the Autumn Statement when the Chancellor unveils perhaps £10 billion of tax rises that will target the wealthy. But wait, some say, when you factor in taxes such as VAT it’s actually poorer households that … Continued READ MORE
Lessons from marshmallows, fertility and Babylon Top of the Charts 15 June 2018 Afternoon all, It’s time for excessive flag waving, daytime drinking and back-of-a-fag-packet maths. And that’s just the Brexit discussion at the upcoming June EU Council… On the World Cup front enjoy the only month when we can all pretend that the most pressing concern around Russia isn’t which election they’ll try to rig next, but … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Women are leading the charge of Britain’s impressive employment record 12 June 2018 by George Bangham Another set of labour market statistics, another round of mixed news. On pay, it’s the all-too-familiar problem of sluggish wage pay growth, with average weekly earnings still £15 below their pre-financial crisis peak (in real terms). On jobs, it’s another familiar tale, but a much more positive one – alongside overall record employment rates, the … Continued READ MORE
Welfare With the benefits of benefit reform diminishing, Universal Credit needs a new direction 11 June 2018 by David Finch Another busy period of Brexit debate has pushed other big domestic issues out of the headlines. This is particularly true of Universal Credit (UC) – where two key government publications last week have slipped under the radar. In the coming year we can expect the profile of UC to rise again, with the pace of … Continued READ MORE
Living longer but still losing to Iceland Top of the Charts 8 June 2018 Afternoon all, Today is the one year anniversary of the 2017 general election. Now no-one’s paying it much attention – but that’s mainly because they’ve spent the week distracted by the idea that David Davis’s resignation threat might be sending us back to the polls. That he’s stayed put will have come as a huge … Continued READ MORE
Ancient history, flat taxes and free rides across Estonia Top of the Charts 25 May 2018 Good afternoon, The good news: this is not a GDPR email. Phew. The bad news: they’re getting free rides over in Estonia (see below), while we’re all going to be spending half of the Bank Holiday weekend stuck on the A303 around Stonehenge… Of course, if you’re stuck in traffic you probably shouldn’t be reading … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Brexit & trade· Inequality & poverty· Economic growth Dis-United Kingdom? Inequality, growth and the Brexit divide 25 May 2018 by Matthew Whittaker Much has changed in Britain since the EU referendum, but in many ways the divide that opened up around the vote feels as cavernous today as it was on the morning after the night before. That owes much to the inevitably divisive nature of a binary in/out referendum of course, but many commentators point also … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Tax What share of tax do the top 1 per cent pay? Less than you might have heard 23 May 2018 by Adam Corlett Late last year in a PMQs exchange about tax, the Prime Minister said that “the top 1 per cent of earners in this country are paying 28 per cent of the tax burden” – “the highest percentage ever”. She’s not alone in saying this. As statistics go, this one is remarkably popular in newspapers, parliament … Continued READ MORE
Productivity & industrial strategy· Labour market· Economic growth Introducing….Hamilton – The Industrial Strategy 21 May 2018 by David Willetts Today’s science speech by the Prime Minister shows how much she has in common with the great Alexander Hamilton – though she has not got her own musical yet. Hamilton’s great rival Jefferson had a picture of America as sturdy yeoman farmers enjoying their liberties under a minimalist Government. Hamilton instead saw the Federal Government … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Low pay· Pay It’ll take more than a higher minimum wage to tackle Britain’s low pay problems 18 May 2018 by Conor D’Arcy As a certain wedding this weekend highlights, some things get more attention than they deserve. When it comes to the world of low pay, all the talk in recent years has been about the National Living Wage. Now of course, this new higher minimum wage for those aged 25 and over is a big deal, … Continued READ MORE
Housing The real barrier to millennials owning a home is not the mortgage – it’s the deposit 11 May 2018 by Lindsay Judge Has the heat finally gone out of the housing market? New data from the Nationwide published this week suggested it might just have, with the cost of the average home falling by more than 3 per cent in the last month. But before aspirant home buyers start putting out the flags, it’s worth setting this … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Intergenerational Centre We need to lift the burden of risk that we are loading onto young people 8 May 2018 by Laura Gardiner A key question for any politician is to ask is what it feels like to grow up in Britain today. The mood and outlook of young adults is a bellwether for the new frontiers of culture, the growth prospects of the economy and the tenor of politics. So, what is the mood among young adults … Continued READ MORE
Social mobility· Wealth & assets· Intergenerational Centre Widening inequalities between generations are impeding social mobility 8 May 2018 by Fahmida Rahman Intergenerational progress – the principle that each generation will do better than the one before – has come to a halt. Millennials in their late 20s are earning less than generation X did 15 years earlier, own half as many homes as the baby boomers, and shoulder greater levels of risk than previous generations. It’s … Continued READ MORE
Intergenerational Centre We need to start the huge task of renewing Britain’s contract between generations 8 May 2018 by Torsten Bell Politics today is one of big questions, but few answers. On Brexit that is true in bucket loads. For the Conservatives that is because they simply do not agree with each other. For Labour it is because all the incentives are to leave this as the Tories problem – ambiguity is the order of the … Continued READ MORE
Tyrannical metrics, a game of monopoly, and will somebody please build some houses? Top of the Charts 4 May 2018 A Bank Holiday can only mean one thing… not sunbathing or camping with the kids, but a whole extra day for reading this week’s offerings. That and a recovery phase from everyone shouting about how the local election results confirm exactly what they’ve always been saying… sigh. While you’ll all be out in the sunshine … Continued READ MORE
Welfare 10 policies if you think you might want a Universal Basic Income but aren’t sure 30 April 2018 by Adam Corlett Universal Basic Income (UBI) is the policy idea du jour, especially among Labour, Lib Dem, SNP and Green members. But those three words by themselves are not a policy. The concept draws support for a range of different – and sometimes contradictory – reasons, and a UBI could be designed in countless ways with vastly … Continued READ MORE
Exam traumas, robot boats and cheaper microwaves Top of the Charts 21 April 2018 The sun is out over Resolution Foundation towers, and most of Britain appears to be in the park. But we hear a rumour you can multitask – which is good because sunbathing goes very well indeed with reading an economics paper or two… This week’s selection will give you grounds for hope that policy makers … Continued READ MORE
Productivity & industrial strategy· Labour market Britain passes a major milestone on pay and breaks new ground on jobs – but there’s a productivity sting 17 April 2018 by Stephen Clarke This morning UK labour market passed a few living standards milestones on pay and jobs with two good pieces of news, one expected and one a surprise. We also got a hint of more good news to come. But we also got one bit of bad news. Let’s start with the good. Today pay growth … Continued READ MORE
Public spending· Housing· Intergenerational Centre The future fiscal cost of ‘Generation Rent’ 17 April 2018 by Stephen Clarke The future fiscal cost of ‘Generation Rent’ For most people the lion’s share of their income is spent housing and so forking out on accommodation when no longer earning would seem like a tall order for many. The vast majority of retired people own their own home and so have relatively low housing costs, however … Continued READ MORE
