Incomes· Cities and regions The pay postcode lottery What is driving Britain’s place-based wage divides? Monday 23 June 2025 Britain is racked by pay divides – on gender, race, age and education status. But one of its starkest inequalities centres on geography, which is far more complex than Londoners earning more than everyone else. But while regional pay inequality is widely discussed, what drives these divides is less well understood. And that really matters if we’re to tackle these inequalities. READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions· Scotland Ending stagnation How to boost prosperity across Scotland Thursday 6 June 2024 This event was in Glasgow. A toxic combination of 15 years of low growth, and four decades of high inequality, has left Britain poorer and falling behind its peers. Productivity growth is weak and public investment is low, while wages today are no higher than they were before the financial crisis. Britain needs a new … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions Setting a new path to greater, shared prosperity How cities in the North East can help to end economic stagnation Tuesday 21 May 2024 This event was in Newcastle. A toxic combination of 15 years of low growth, and four decades of high inequality, has left Britain poorer and falling behind its peers. Productivity growth is weak and public investment is low, while wages today are no higher than they were before the financial crisis. Britain needs a new … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions Building a better Britain How cities like Bradford can help to end economic stagnation Thursday 16 May 2024 This event was in Bradford. A toxic combination of 15 years of low growth, and four decades of high inequality, has left Britain poorer and falling behind its peers. Productivity growth is weak and public investment is low, while wages today are no higher than they were before the financial crisis. Britain needs a new … Continued READ MORE
Wales· Fiscal policy· Cities and regions· Scotland· Economic growth Policy making beyond Westminster Economic lessons from 25 years of national devolution Monday 29 April 2024 1999 saw the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Senedd all meet in their full form for the first time. This marked the most significant act of devolution of the 20th Century, and it has changed the United Kingdom significantly over the past quarter of a century. The process of devolution has continued … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions Overcoming stagnation A new strategy for economic prosperity in Britain? Thursday 25 April 2024 This event was in Bath. Economic growth in the UK has been sluggish ever since the global financial crisis. More recent large-scale disruptions caused by Brexit and Covid-19 have created additional challenges to growth and the vital public services, institutions, and fiscal measures that underpin it. Productivity and public investment remain low. Meanwhile, stalling wage … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions A new Economic Strategy for Britain How can Oxford help drive equitable economic growth? Tuesday 23 April 2024 This event was in Oxford. Economic growth in the UK has been sluggish ever since the global financial crisis. More recent large-scale disruptions caused by Brexit and Covid-19 have created additional challenges to growth and the vital public services, institutions, and fiscal measures that underpin it. Productivity and public investment remain low. Meanwhile, stalling wage … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions Boosting prosperity across Britain How cities like Bristol can help to end economic stagnation Thursday 7 March 2024 This event was in Bristol. A toxic combination of 15 years of low growth, and four decades of high inequality, has left Britain poorer and falling behind its peers. Wages today are no higher than they were before the financial crisis, and England’s biggest cities beyond London all have productivity levels below the national average. … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions Ending stagnation The role of cities like Nottingham in boosting economic prosperity across Britain Thursday 29 February 2024 This event was in Nottingham. A toxic combination of 15 years of low growth, and four decades of high inequality, has left Britain poorer and falling behind its peers. Productivity growth is weak and public investment is low, while wages today are no higher than they were before the financial crisis. Britain needs a new … Continued READ MORE
Net zero· Economy 2030· Living standards· Firms· Demographics· Productivity & industrial strategy· Brexit & trade· Cities and regions· Economic growth· Tax· Macroeconomic policy Ending Stagnation A New Economic Strategy for Britain Monday 4 December 2023 The final report of The Economy 2030 Inquiry The UK has great strengths, but is a decade and a half into a period of stagnation. The combination of slow growth and high inequality is proving toxic for low- and middle-income Britain. The result is a country falling behind its peers, where taxes, rather than wages, … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions In place of centralisation Devolution for London, Manchester and Birmingham Wednesday 8 November 2023 Devolution is essential to both tackle economic inequality across England and drive national economic growth. Significant change has already occurred, with metro mayors and combined authorities taking control over significant areas from transport to housing in areas covering large swathes of the country. But we have not seen fiscal devolution, as responsibility for how money is spent … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Labour market· Cities and regions· Housing Making Greater Manchester great again What is GM’s plausible path to greater prosperity? Tuesday 19 September 2023 This event was held in Manchester. Greater Manchester has long been centre-stage in visions of a more geographically equal country – from the Northern Powerhouse to levelling up. But the rhetoric has outpaced the reality: productivity and wages across the city region remain 10 and 4 per cent below the national average. What it would … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Labour market· Cities and regions· Housing Building momentum in Birmingham and beyond What is Birmingham urban area’s plausible path to greater prosperity? Thursday 14 September 2023 This event was in Birmingham. The West Midlands has played a pivotal role in British history as a manufacturing hub, driving innovation and economic growth which led to dramatic improvements in people’s living standards. But its city region has struggled to maintain this role over recent decades, and productivity is now 11 per cent below … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions Turnaround cities How post-industrial cities around the world have transformed their economies Monday 15 May 2023 In a services-based economy like Britain, its cities should be leading its economic growth. But in fact England’s major cities outside London are actually less productive than the national average, and many have struggled to adjust to our post-industrial landscape. This is a common challenge for many cities in western economies. But while some cities … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions The future of the UK economy Navigating a route to a fairer and more prosperous South Yorkshire, and beyond Thursday 23 March 2023 The United Kingdom is facing a decisive decade of huge economic change, from restructuring after Brexit and the pandemic, to urgently transitioning towards a net zero future, and adapting to technological shifts amid an ageing population. But it is doing that against a backdrop of low growth and high inequality, a toxic combination that leaves … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions The future of the UK economy The role of the West Midlands in renewing the UK’s economic strategy Tuesday 29 November 2022 The United Kingdom is facing a decisive decade of huge economic change, from restructuring after Brexit and the pandemic, to urgently transitioning towards a net zero future, and adapting to technological shifts amid an ageing population. But it is doing that against a backdrop of low growth and high inequality, a toxic combination that leaves … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Wales· Cities and regions· Economic growth The future of the UK economy Navigating a route to a fairer and more prosperous Wales, and beyond Thursday 24 November 2022 The whole of the United Kingdom is facing a decisive decade of huge economic change, from tackling the energy bills crisis, to restructuring after Brexit and the pandemic, and urgently transitioning towards a net zero future. These shifts present big new opportunities for people and places throughout Wales, such as being a hub for renewable … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Productivity & industrial strategy· Cities and regions Stagnation Nation The role of Greater Manchester in renewing the UK’s economic strategy for the 2020s Wednesday 12 October 2022 A joint event with Resolution Foundation and Greater Manchester Combined Authority The United Kingdom is facing a decisive decade of huge economic change, from tackling the energy bills crisis, to restructuring after Brexit and the pandemic, and urgently transitioning towards a net zero future. But it is doing that against a backdrop of low growth … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Brexit & trade· Cities and regions· Economic growth The future of the UK economy Navigating a route to a fairer and more prosperous Northern Ireland, and beyond Monday 12 September 2022 The whole of the United Kingdom is facing a decisive decade of huge economic change, from tackling the energy bills crisis, to restructuring after Brexit and the pandemic, and urgently transitioning towards a net zero future. These shifts present big new opportunities for people and places throughout Northern Ireland, such as being a hub for … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Cities and regions· Economic growth All change please? What going for growth could mean for different places across Britain Tuesday 7 June 2022 After a decade of stagnation and many decades of persistent regional economic divides, the task of securing a brighter economic future for a wider range of places is now up in lights. It’s an ambition that resonates with the public too, and if policy makers across local, city-wide and national government are to take effective … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Wales· Living standards· Cities and regions From locking down to ‘levelling up’ Wales The past, present and future of Welsh living standards Thursday 5 November 2020 Wales is often absent from Westminster-based discussions around ‘levelling up’, despite household incomes in Wales lagging as far behind the UK average as those in the north of England. But the Welsh government’s policy levers are far stronger than those of English regions, and that status and voice within the UK has become more prominent … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Cities and regions City limits? Living with, and recovering from, Covid-19 Monday 21 September 2020 Live interactive webinar. City economies have been upended by Covid-19, as it changes what we do and where we do it. City regions across the country are having to rethink their strategies for success in the face of these new challenges. Greater Manchester is at the forefront of this debate, having only last year published … Continued READ MORE
Demographics· Cities and regions· Intergenerational Centre Ageing fast, ageing slow When Britain’s geography and demography collide Monday 28 October 2019 Britain is getting older. Life expectancy is rising and, with Britain’s large post-war baby boomer generation now moving into retirement, a growing proportion of our population are pensioners. But not all parts of Britain are ageing at the same pace, and some are actually getting younger. These major demographic differences between places are profoundly important … Continued READ MORE
