We need to talk about inflation

What history has to teach us about surging prices

Wednesday 3 May 2023

Book launch event for We Need to Talk About Inflation by Stephen King From investors and academics, to governments and central banks, almost everyone had assumed high and persistent inflation was dead and buried. But with inflation having soared to double-digits, people the world over are confronting a new economic reality of surging prices. Reflecting … Continued

Still coping?

How families are faring as the cost-of-living crisis enters its second year

Thursday 27 April 2023

The UK’s cost-of-living crunch has entered its second year. While inflation should fall significantly in the coming months, the crisis is far from over. Prices are rising more slowly rather than falling. And the significant government support provided last year is being scaled back, while fast rising interest rates will affect more and more homeowners … Continued

Labour market enforcement
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Labour market

Playing by the rules

A new approach to enforcing workers’ rights

Tuesday 25 April 2023

Debates about raising, or indeed cutting, legal protections for workers are a staple of British politics – with welcome progress including a rising minimum wage driving down low pay. But too often the reality that these rights, rates and rules mean little if they aren’t enforced is forgotten. The systems used to enforce workers’ rights … Continued

Good work

How to renew the UK’s economic strategy and put better jobs at its heart

Wednesday 19 April 2023

The minimum wage has more than halved the share of low paid workers across Britain over the past two decades. This is a huge success – but it is far from job done. While low-paid workers today earn more, they are too often trapped on short-hours, facing poor working conditions or lacking the advantages higher … Continued

Demographics
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Intergenerational Centre

Making your voice heard?

How different generations participate in politics

Thursday 30 March 2023

Part of the ESRC funded Connecting Generations Thought Leader series. The political context in which people grow up can play a hugely influential role in how that age cohort participate in democracy. From the dominance of different political parties and prevalence of strikes and protests, to the distribution of information and ideas through social media, the … Continued

Thinking about tomorrow

Overcoming the UK’s low and volatile public investment problem

Thursday 30 March 2023

The UK has been under-investing for decades. British business isn’t keen on investing, and the public sector if anything does even worse. Public investment is not only low by international standards, it’s very volatile. Politicians like to announce investment rises, but Chancellor’s also like to cut it when they need to make the fiscal arithmetic … Continued

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

Into calmer waters?

Assessing Budget 2023

Thursday 16 March 2023

The UK has gone through four Chancellors, three Prime Ministers and entered a cost-of-living crisis in 500 days since the last Budget way back in October 2021. On 15 March, Jeremy Hunt will unveil his first Budget, hoping to signpost the UK economy’s way towards a new, calmer, phase of lower inflation and higher growth. … Continued

Economy 2030
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Monetary policy
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Macroeconomic policy

A cost-of-living crisis

Inflation during an unprecedented terms of trade shock

Wednesday 8 March 2023

Speech by MPC member Swati Dhingra Britain has been buffeted by many different economic shocks in recent decades, but the most recent is a huge terms of trade deterioration following a spike in energy prices and disruption to global supply chains in the wake of the pandemic. This has given the UK the highest inflation … Continued

Back to basics Budget?

What Jeremy Hunt’s March Budget has in store

Monday 6 March 2023

2022 marked a tough year, with soaring inflation sparking a cost-of-living crisis and repeated government announcements to tackle it. And that was before the Autumn economic policy chaos. The economics and politics are now calmer. Inflation – and most importantly gas prices – is falling, and the Chancellor hopes to deliver a more ‘normal’ Budget … Continued

Monetary policy
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Macroeconomic policy

The results of rising rates

Expectations, lags and the transmission of monetary policy

Thursday 23 February 2023

Speech by MPC member Catherine Mann Central bankers around the world have been busy raising interest rates from their historical lows in the face of mounting inflation, with the Bank of England raising the base rate at their last ten MPC meetings. But the big question for policy makers is not just what the impact … Continued

Working in the think tank sector

Webinar for undergraduates interested in working in the sector

Wednesday 22 February 2023

Download the event slides and FAQs from the event. Think tanks are research organisations that develop ideas and suggestions for action on a whole range of subjects affecting society. Using research, analysis and commentary, we aim to inform and influence politicians, policy makers and the public. Given the economic, social and political issues facing the … Continued

Getting Britain working

How to boost workforce participation in the 2020s

Tuesday 21 February 2023

Fast rising participation in the workforce was an important driver of growth in the 2010s, helping to offset the impacts of a productivity and wage stagnation. But that progress has gone into reverse in the wake of the pandemic, with older workers in particular exiting the workforce, prompting the government to launch a major review. … Continued

Saving capitalism, rescuing democracy

Book launch for The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism by Martin Wolf

Tuesday 7 February 2023

Recent decades have not been kind to liberal democracy. Growth has slowed, inequality risen. Powerful voices argue that capitalism is better without democracy, while others argue that democracy is better without capitalism. But despite the travails of democratic capitalism this system brings substantial benefits. Turning the tide on populism requires both reflecting on these advantages … Continued

Labour market enforcement
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Labour market

Do we care about carers?

The experiences of social care workers

Thursday 26 January 2023

Social care is a large and important part of the UK economy, and will be a growing one with an ageing population and rising ill-health. But it is often also a lower paid one, with funding challenges, staff shortages and a history of risks around minimum wage underpayment. Workers wrestle with these challenges, alongside the … Continued

Saving savings?

Assessing government incentives to put money aside

Monday 16 January 2023

Savings matter. They help households cope in the face of economic shocks, take risks and plan for the future. But the UK has had a low savings rate for decades, and as a result households have entered today’s cost of living crisis with low savings levels. Policymakers have long recognised this challenge, and tried to … Continued

Wealth booms and debt burdens

How Britain’s recent economic history and outlook affects different generations

Wednesday 11 January 2023

Part of the ESRC funded Connecting Generations Thought Leader series. The financial crisis is largely considered to have increased inequalities between generations, with rising public debt leading to higher taxes for future generations, while the gains from rising asset prices have been accrued by older generations. Private intergenerational wealth transfers have grown – notably through … Continued

New year, renewed squeeze?

The outlook for living standards in 2023 and beyond

Monday 9 January 2023

Britain’s cost-of-living crisis has been brutal this winter – even with significant government support – as bills rise and real wages fall. Inflation should ease in the year ahead, but government support is also being scaled back and rising interest rates will feed through into higher mortgage costs. The outlook is highly uncertain. How are … Continued

Getting warmth up and bills down

How can the UK insulate its housing stock?

Monday 12 December 2022

The current energy crisis has highlighted the disaster that is Britain’s poorly insulated housing stock – costing millions of households hundreds of pounds this winter alone. And it is about time, with drastically improving the energy efficiency of our homes the biggest net zero challenge of the 2020s. But progress has been far too slow … Continued

Economic growth
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Political parties and elections

The experts strike back?

A joint Resolution Foundation and Political Quarterly launch event for Politicians and economic experts: the limits of technocracy by Anna Killick

Thursday 8 December 2022

The relationship between politicians and economists has always been complicated, and it has become particularly rocky in Britain over the last decade. Divisions during the Brexit referendum prompted Michael Gove to quip that Britain had ‘had enough of experts’ while a key pillar of Trussonomics was challenging existing economic institutions from the Treasury to the … Continued

Clocking in and out

Is choice or circumstance driving part-time work among low earners?

Wednesday 30 November 2022

Working hours, not just hourly pay rates, are a key determinant of living standards. Historically, men have tended to work more paid hours than women, with working hours for both sexes increasing substantially between the ages of 18 and 25. But over recent decades these trends appear to be weakening, with increasing numbers of young … Continued

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

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

Ventures

WorkerTech meetup and mixer

How can technology help to improve the prospects and power of workers?

Monday 21 November 2022

What does the future of fair work look like and how can technology help to improve the prospects and power of workers? Join us on 21st November for a WorkerTech meetup and mixer, hear provocations from our speakers on the market forces and structural challenges workers are faced with in the UK and hear examples of how we … Continued

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