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
Living standards Sell your possessions, buy your citizenship, and do young people hate fresh air? Top of the Charts 27 April 2018 This week’s blog comes to you from a Welsh mountainside. The path goes steeply up, which is more than you can say for the country’s economic growth (in case you missed it, 2018 didn’t start well). On the flip side, we also learnt this week that the government stopped borrowing for day to day spending … 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
Labour market· Productivity & industrial strategy 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
Living standards· Incomes· Labour market How to get family incomes growing again 16 April 2018 by Torsten Bell Lots of things matter for family incomes – but for British households as a whole nothing matters as much as the labour market. Questions of who has a job and what they get paid for doing it might not be the only determinant of our living standards – but they are certainly the first. … Continued READ MORE
Overconfident zombies, undertaxed wealth and generation rent hits middle age Top of the Charts 13 April 2018 Sign up for our weekly Top of the Charts emails here While you await your lunchtime pint (or Pret at your desk, depending on your commitment to raising the UK’s productivity levels) here’s some reading to tide you over the weekend. We cover the synchronised swimming of house prices and the fact that even the OECD … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay Three tips on how to get a pay rise 9 April 2018 by Stephen Clarke How do you get a pay rise? This is a question most of us would like to know the answer to. Especially seeing as, following the financial crisis, we’ve experienced the worst squeeze on wages in over a hundred years. Typical weekly earnings are £15 lower than they were in 2009, and by 2020 we … Continued READ MORE
Robot wars, trade top trumps, and an auto-enrolment bonus Top of the Charts 6 April 2018 Sign up for our weekly Top of the Charts emails here If you’re feeling suitably guilty after too much chocolate and not enough consideration of the economic quandaries of our time, here’s a strong dose of medicine. This week’s instalment of Top of the Charts calls time on the robot wars, notes the growing backlash against … Continued READ MORE
Pensions & savings· Wealth & assets· Welfare· Intergenerational Centre Now’s not the time for auto-pilot 6 April 2018 by Matthew Whittaker and Stephen Clarke Straightforward policy successes are a rare achievement in government and need celebrating when they arrive, lest we forget that policy matters. The recent sizeable gains the UK has made on private pension saving as a result of the introduction of auto-enrolment are therefore a clear cause for cheer. But challenges remain, starting with the increase … Continued READ MORE