EXPERT HUB
Blog: The role of business in an inclusive economy
by Sacha Romanovitch, CEO of Grant Thornton UK LLP
Nearly ten years ago, in the midst of the global financial crisis, I found myself at work late into the night, planning the restructure of our firm. This was the worst thing I have ever had to do – taking decisions that I knew would have severe consequences for some of my colleagues and their [...]
Read moreBlog: We must build on our competitive regional advantages
by Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands
Building on the strengths of the West Midlands “We are enjoying something of a revival in the West Midlands. The stats for the last 3 years show that productivity in the West Midlands – measured by GVA per head – has increased by 6.8%, nearly three times higher than the national average which [...]
Read moreBlog: How the new industrial strategy can support left behind places
by Kate Barker, Chair of the Industrial Strategy Commission
Industrial strategy needs strong independent scrutiny “You can discern strands in today’s industrial strategy that have carried on from previous governments, but nonetheless there is still a sense that new ministers have a terrible tendency to bring to a premature end the things that previous [...]
Read moreBlog: The industrial strategy must focus on the adoption of technology
by Juergen Maier, Chief Executive of Siemens UK
“What do we need to do to create more inclusive growth? Fundamentally we need to raise wages. Then through the application of new technology – you can call it the 4th Industrial Revolution or apply other labels – can we raise productivity to support rising wages, and can we create more jobs [...]
Read moreBlog: Britain has had a sustained industrial strategy now for almost a decade
by Lord Willetts, Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation
“We are told that the problem with industrial strategy is that it’s always chopping and changing. There have been interruptions – there was one for a few months after the Conservative government took office in 2015 where some progress was lost, but it is absolutely back on track with Greg [...]
Read moreBlog: Don’t depoliticise inclusive growth!
by Tony Payne, Professorial Fellow at the Sheffield Political Economy Research institute (SPERI)
That was the conclusion – both optimistic and pessimistic at the same time – that I drew at the end of a very interesting day spent in Glasgow two or three weeks ago as a delegate at what was described, with genuine national pride, as ‘Scotland’s Inclusive Growth Conference’. It was highly [...]
Read moreBlog: Why finance matters for inclusive growth
Most people would agree that a successful modern economy, particularly one which promotes inclusive growth, requires an effective financial system. But few stop to ask how we might measure efficacy. Indeed you will search, almost in vain, amongst the writings of economists to find a single one [...]
Read moreBlog: The social economy is missing in strategies to create more inclusive growth
by Andrea Westall, Strategy and Policy Consultant and Senior Visiting Fellow at the Open University
We therefore need to also look at how we structure economic activity, whether to improve access to and create ‘decent jobs’, or to ensure that people share more fairly in the proceeds of ‘growth’. It was for this reason that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) funded a piece of work that I was [...]
Read moreBlog: UK recovery now worse than after Great Depression
by Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Inclusive Growth
The research confirmed that the path of the recession in 1929-31 followed a similar path to the crisis of 2008-09 but the recovery over the last ten years has been much slower. Ten years after the Wall Street financial crash, Britain had left the Gold Standard and, like today, pursued a policy [...]
Read moreBlog: Community-led and collaborative models of growth are the cornerstone of an inclusive economy
by Nat Defriend, Director of Communities at the Young Foundation
We want to return to what she said in 2016 to offer her three concrete ideas for what she should do to deliver on this critical agenda. 1) The Prime Minister talked in 2016 about combatting the entrenched advantages of the privileged few. She was right to do so. We know from our work in […]
Read moreBlog: Why Rebuild Macroeconomics?
by Angus Armstrong, Director of the Rebuilding Macroeconomics Network
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has invested in a brand-new network to understand the macroeconomy. This is an extraordinary opportunity; we know of no comparable research funding anywhere in the world. Through our network, Rebuilding Macroeconomics, over the next four years we [...]
Read moreBlog: The UK economy needs fundamental reform
by Michael Jacobs, Director of the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice
Last week’s announcement by the Bank comes at a time when the UK’s growth forecasts are being downgraded and average real wages are falling. The MPC’s warning is solely a reflection of its mandate to control inflation: since the EU referendum vote, the depreciation of the pound has been pushing [...]
Read moreBlog: Tackling extreme pay inequality must be central to securing inclusive growth
by Wanda Wyporska, Executive Director of The Equality Trust
Last summer, the Prime Minister pledged to build a nation that “works for everyone, not just the privileged few”. One of her central ambitions in setting out this vision was to tackle irresponsible business behaviour that leads to “irrational, unhealthy and growing” pay gaps between bosses and [...]
Read moreBlog: Building a more resilient and inclusive global economy
by Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
Thank you, Jean-Claude Trichet and Guntram Wolff, for your kind introductions. And thank you to Bruegel for hosting this event here at the wonderful Bibliothèque Solvay. As I experience this beautiful building, it reminds me that good architecture is not about geometry or design in the first [...]
Read moreBlog: Why don’t we just… make sure economic growth benefits everyone?
by Jane Thomas, Member of Sheffield’s Our Fair City Advisory Group
In the recent Budget, the Chancellor acknowledged that too many families are still feeling the squeeze, almost a decade on from the financial crash. Theresa May and Philip Hammond have both promoted the goal of inclusive economic growth or an “economy that delivers for everyone” yet there is no [...]
Read moreBlog: A country that works for everyone? Only with inclusive growth
by Stephanie Flanders, Chair of the RSA Inclusive Growth Commission
Britain’s vote to leave the EU has forced into the open a fundamental and increasingly urgent debate about the country’s future. Should we pursue a more Singaporean model of economic growth, with low taxes and tariffs to attract investment and trade? Or should we seek to ‘regain control’ of our [...]
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