Productivity & industrial strategy How to do industrial strategy A guide for practitioners 7 April 2025 by David Willetts This paper sets out a practical approach to industrial strategy in the UK, focused on boosting private investment and productivity. It proposes twenty policy tools spanning sectors, technologies, places, funding and state capability, with a clear roadmap for policymakers. READ MORE
Social mobility Are universities worth it? A review of the evidence and policy options 20 January 2025 by David Willetts Young graduates earn £5,000 more annually than non-graduates, but that premium is lower than it was 10 years ago. The real earnings of young graduates have been broadly flat over the last decade, similar to earnings overall, whereas non-graduate earnings have been boosted by the minimum wage. But graduates individually do continue to enjoy rises … Continued READ MORE
Productivity & industrial strategy The art of strategy How to make a success of the Government’s new Industrial Strategy 9 December 2024 by Greg Thwaites and David Willetts This report critiques the Government’s Invest 2035 industrial strategy Green Paper. It calls for investing in better data and workforce skills, using public procurement as an instrument, and leaning in to the trade-offs when allocating public investment across regions and industries. READ MORE
Economy 2030 How higher education can boost people-powered growth Steering economic change 24 October 2023 by David Willetts Higher education brings benefits to individuals, to the wider economy and to society. From America’s post War GI Bill to the transformation of Korea, more people getting more education is one of the most powerful tools which a government has to transform its economy. The OECD estimate that every extra year of education boosts long … Continued READ MORE
Intergenerational Centre A return to boom and bust (in births) How birth cycles will affect public spending pressures over the coming decade 15 October 2021 by Maja Gustafsson and David Willetts The demographic impact of the Baby Boomer generation on public spending is frequently discussed as they move out of work and into retirement, but the most recent birth cycle – in which births hit a low point in 2002, a high point in 2012, and have been declining since – is having profound impacts on the education system. READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty How unequal is the UK – and should we care? 8 November 2017 by David Willetts David Willetts’s slides from the Royal Statistical Society Cathie Marsh Lecture, exploring recent trends in UK living standards and inequality, specifically inequality between generations and between graduates and non-graduates. READ MORE
Demographics· Intergenerational Centre The pinch: How the baby boomers took their children’s future – and why they should give it back 10 December 2015 by David Willetts The accompanying slide pack for David Willetts’s speech to Keele University, exploring the differences between the baby boomers and younger generations, looking at wealth and welfare in particular. READ MORE
