Resolution Foundation Events Podcast

A living standards election? What the year ahead could mean for family - and political - fortunes

The cost of living crisis has not only dragged on longer than anyone hoped, it has evolved. As the focus has moved from energy bills to food prices, alongside rising rent and mortgage costs, the impact on different groups has changed. It will change further in the run in to a 2024 general election, with significant uncertainty about how far unemployment might rise and whether inflation will remain stubbornly high.
How has the cost of living crisis evolved over the past 18 months? How have different households been affected? What is the outlook for household finances in the run up to the next election, and which issues are likely to move centre stage? And how will this affect British politics in that pre-election year?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and online event to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from our latest Living Standards Outlook, we will hear from leading experts on what the prolonged living standards squeeze means for households and policymakers.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/living-standards-outlook-summer-2023/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/a-living-standards-election/ 

The Innovation Job: Can new labour market institutions drive good work?

Nationally set minimum standards – from the minimum wage to holiday pay – make a real difference to the quality of low-paid work. But these reforms can only go so far. Many problems in the world of work are concentrated in specific sectors, from social care to logistics. And even when problems are shared – such as a lack of training – the answers to address them may be different. While the UK has not seen innovation in labour market institutions for decades, other countries with similar labour markets – from New Zealand to the US – have begun exploring new routes to improving the quality of work.
Are there challenges with areas of lower-paid or lower-quality work that cannot be addressed by national regulations? To what extent do unions and potential new labour market institutions covering specific sectors offer routes to better work? What can we learn from other similar countries – from Ireland to New Zealand – that have done more experimentation? And what route should the UK take to delivering a good work agenda?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key report highlights from a new report on how to improve low-paid workers’ conditions, we will hear from leading experts on how unions and labour market institutions can deliver a strategy for good work.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/putting-good-work-on-the-table/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/the-innovation-job/ 

From boom to gloom? The winners and losers from rising rates and falling wealth

Britain has experienced a 30-year wealth boom, driven by record low interest rates, causing unprecedented levels of intergenerational inequality. But this has now been brought to an abrupt end, with the Bank of England embarking on the tightest rate-raising cycle since the early 90s – causing mortgage costs to rise, house prices to fall and pension valuations to crater.
What are the wider economic effects of rising rates and falling asset prices? To what extent might the pinch being felt by middle-aged mortgagors be offset by gains for young perspective first-time buyers and older generations reliant on savings? And with the long-term outlook for interest rates uncertain, should policymakers take action to mitigate the social consequences of Britain’s changing wealth landscape?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of our ongoing wealth across Britain project, in partnership with the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key report highlights, we will hear from leading experts on the possible winners and losers from rising rates and falling wealth.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/peaked-interest/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/from-boom-to-gloom/ 

Shared prosperity: What would it take to see a return to rising living standards for all?

Britain is stagnating. Productivity growth is flatlining, workers today are earning the same wages as their predecessors in 2007, and living standards growth had slowed to a crawl even before today’s cost of living crisis. So we need a clear strategy for returning to rising, and widely shared, prosperity. Against that backdrop, it is important to understand what a return to growth will, and will not deliver. Some doubt that a return to growth is possible, while others question if it is even desirable – arguing that productivity growth doesn’t raise the wages of ordinary workers. Beyond growth, the roles of policies to redistribute (including through the benefits system) or predistribute (with a more equal sharing of rewards from the labour market) are hotly debated.
Does productivity growth boost ordinary workers’ pay packets? Would a return to rising wages help reduce inequality or drive it higher? Should policy makers focus on raising employment rates and the minimum wage, or on changes to the benefit system, to boost the living standards of those on low incomes? And fundamentally is there a plausible route to Britain seeing living standards rise and inequality fall?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key report highlights from a new report, we will hear from leading experts on how to ensure that economic growth delivers improved living standards for all.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/sharing-the-benefits/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/shared-prosperity/ 

Monetary policy in the face of large shocks: Valedictory speech by MPC Member Silvana Tenreyro

Professor Silvana Tenreyro has been an External Member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) since July 2017. In her final speech as an MPC member, she will look back on some of the key events during her tenure. In a space of less than three years, the UK economy has been subject to two once-in-a-generation shocks, the pandemic with its aftereffects and the large increase in energy prices stemming from the war in Ukraine, which have increased inflation well above its 2 per cent target.
She will discuss the UK’s inflation targeting framework, and what policymakers can do to ensure its credibility in the face of such large inflationary shocks. The speech will focus on different aspects of policymaking and credibility: including the role of inflation expectations; central bank models and forecasts; and policy communications.
Silvana will also discuss where her views have evolved over her six years on the MPC. She will touch on differentiating between temporary and persistent influences on inflation; on communicating uncertainty around forecasts; and on giving guidance about future policy actions.
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/economic-shocks-and-interesting-times/ 

From quantity to quality: How to have better, not just higher, taxes

Britain’s tax take has risen to a 70 year high. And while the pre-election clamour for tax cuts is growing, higher debt payments, struggling public services and tight fiscal rules mean taxes are just as likely to go up as down. But this rising quantity of tax revenue has not been matched by a rising quality of tax policy.
The system is a mess, with frequent fudges rather than reform, resulting in businesses unsure how their profits will be taxed. Some people are paying much higher tax rates than others with similar income levels. Our tax system is deepening, rather than helping resolve, some of the biggest challenges the UK faces – from housing to net zero. This needs to change if Britain’s taxes are to be fit for the decade ahead.
Should we expect higher taxes to last? Can higher taxes be better taxes – and what are the priorities for reform? How much difference could this make to the twin challenges of raising growth and reducing inequality? And do we need to rebalance our priorities between taxing labour, profits, consumption and assets?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from major new research, we will hear from leading experts on how to improve our tax system.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/tax-planning/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/from-quantity-to-quality/ 

An investment nation: Can Britain shift from living off its past to investing in its future?

Britain is in relative decline, as productivity and wages stagnate. This reflects a decade of shocks but also a longer lasting problem – Britain has spent recent decades living off its past rather than investing in its future. In both public and private investment the UK consistently lags behind its international peers, leaving British workers with less kit to work with, and fewer British firms competing at the cutting edge. Ensuring firms want to invest, and making sure they are able to do so, is therefore fundamental to our hopes of an economic revival. Both main parties recognise this task, but their focus on changes to corporation tax or promises of a more stable period of government are unlikely to deliver the scale of change required.
Why are so many firms reluctant to invest in their, and Britain’s, future? Are firms held back because returns on investment are low, or because finance is unavailable? What reforms – from corporate governance to pensions, taxation and planning – might move the dial? And if investment does rise, should that be financed from lower consumption at home or borrowing from abroad?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive hybrid event – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of highlights from major new research assessing how to reform the UK’s investment ecosystem, we will hear from leading experts on how to encourage British firms to invest more.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/beyond-boosterism/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/an-investment-nation/ 

Living in a material world: How resources shape our past, present and future

Materials matter. They have been critical in shaping the path of human history, from the innovations we create to the relationships between nations. This has always been true from iron in the 19th Century to lithium that powers our smartphones today. But changing international dynamics – driven by shifting geopolitics, the recent energy crisis and the net zero transition – have the potential to put access to materials at the forefront of economics, politics and international relations.
In his new book – Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future – Ed Conway examines how six key substances have built our world, have the potential to transform our future, and the risks that reliance on these resources pose.
To mark the launch of the book, the Resolution Foundation is hosting a book launch at its Westminster office, as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The panel will discuss how we can balance our need for these resources with tackling climate change and managing geopolitical volatility.
Watch the event here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/living-in-a-material-world/