Resolution Foundation Events Podcast

Demographic destiny? How age, race, gender and class shape our economy

People’s characteristics can shape many aspects of their lives, including their economic lives – from where they shop and live, the assets they hold – and the jobs they do. These impacts filter through to the shape of a country’s economy – with knock-on effects for government spending, interest rates, wealth and longer-term growth. Attempts to achieve widely shared goals for faster growth, or political objectives for particular levels of taxation, need to rest on an understanding of the interactions between demography and economics.
To what extent does someone’s gender, age, race, education and upbringing affect what they buy, where they live and what job they do? How do these effects feed into a country’s level of growth and productivity? What impact does this have on the public finances? And how can policy makers use an understanding of Britain’s demographics to design better policies, from health and pensions, to migration and the environment?
The Resolution Foundation is co-hosting an event with the Society of Professional Economists to debate and answer these questions. Following presentations from Amlan Roy, who recently published a book on this topic, and Dr Norma Cohen, the panellists will discuss how understanding demography can improve economic policy making and bring about higher growth.
View the event slides here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/demographic-destiny/ 

Stagnation Nation: The role of Greater Manchester in renewing the UK’s economic strategy for the 2020s

A joint event with Resolution Foundation and Greater Manchester Combined Authority
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. But it is doing that against a backdrop of low growth and high inequality, a toxic combination that leaves low- and middle-income households dangerously exposed to today’s cost of living crisis.
What role can economic strategies – national and local – play in responding to the challenges of the 2020s, to secure higher growth and lower inequality? How will the changes to come affect the jobs we do, the places we live and the businesses we work for? And what are the prospects of the country rising to these challenges?
The 2020s will see big new opportunities for people and places throughout the UK and North of England, if emerging and more well-established strengths in world-class scientific, creative, industrial and manufacturing assets are built upon. But these changes come with major disruption, and therefore also carry risks, with lessons to learn from how different areas of the UK have responded to past periods of economic change.
Greater Manchester’s many strengths must be harnessed to manage the economic changes of the 2020s well. But to really thrive, the city-region will need to find ways to ensure that everyone benefits from growth and investment aimed at reducing its productivity gap with places like London and Edinburgh.
The Resolution Foundation, in partnership with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) are co-hosting an event to debate these questions and find some answers. This event is part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry – a collaboration between the Resolution Foundation and the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – and the Greater Manchester Independent Prosperity Review.
View the event slides here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/stagnation-nation-greater-manchester/ 

What next? The impact of Trussonomics, tax cuts and market turmoil

The last few days have seen a radical reshaping of the Government’s economic policy and a radical reaction from financial markets. Out have gone both Treasury orthodoxy and the legacy of the Johnson premiership, and in are lower taxes, higher borrowing – and higher borrowing costs as spooked markets respond.
Will this new strategy boost growth in the short- and medium-term? What does market turmoil mean for the Bank of England and Treasury – which has a deadline of 23rd November to explain how the public finances will be set on an sustainable footing? Are more tax cuts to come, or are spending cuts more likely?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an event to debate and discuss these questions. Following a presentation of the Foundation’s analysis, we will hear from leading experts on what might happen next amid a new era for economic policy making.
View the event slides here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/what-next/ 

Slouching towards utopia? Brad DeLong on the economic history of the 20th century

The 20th century was one of unparalleled economic growth – from rising living standards and an explosion of material wealth, to massive falls in poverty and deprivation. But it was also one of huge economic disruption, caused by, and the cause of, brutal global conflicts, as well as one of competing economic philosophies and outlooks, whose popularity have waxed and waned over time.
Understanding what underpinned these huge economic shifts – and their impact on individuals, communities, and societies – is important to understanding our history and the turbulent present we are living through. Few people are better equipped to explain these shifts than world-leading economist and polymath Brad DeLong.
Brad will join Resolution Foundation Chief Executive Torsten Bell to discuss these issues, which are the subject of his new critically-acclaimed book Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the 20th Century. Brad will also take part in an audience Q&A as part of an interactive webinar, which will be broadcast via YouTube and the Resolution Foundation website.
Watch the event here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/slouching-towards-utopia/ 

The future of the UK economy: Navigating a route to a fairer and more prosperous Northern Ireland, and beyond

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 Northern Ireland, such as being a hub for manufacturing and creative industries. But failing to respond to the disruption these changes also carries huge risks – to our living standards, our communities, and to our planet. Northern Ireland’s many strengths must be harnessed to manage this change well and maximise the benefits for all.
How will economic change affect the jobs we do, the places we live and the firms we work for? How can we build a new economic strategy that responds to the challenges of the 2020s, as well as our legacy problems of weak productivity, high inequality and stagnating living standards? And how can that strategy deliver a just transition at both local, national and UK-wide levels?
As part of the Economy 2030 Inquiry – in collaboration with the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE and funded by the Nuffield Foundation – the Resolution Foundation are co-hosting this event with the Nevin Economic Research Institute to debate and answer these questions. Based on the research findings from the Inquiry so far, we will discuss how the UK, and Northern Ireland in particular, has responded to past periods of economic change. We will be joined by leading experts to discuss how to make the coming decade of change a success.
View the event slides here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/the-future-of-the-uk-economy-northern-ireland/ 

A bleak midwinter? The cost-of-living crisis facing Britain and its new Prime Minister

Britain is in the midst of a painful cost-of-living squeeze, with double digit inflation prompting the biggest fall in real wages since the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. And the crisis will get far worse in the coming months as inflation continues to rise, energy bills soar, and rising interest rates are felt in higher mortgage payments. However, the sheer scale, duration and distribution of this income squeeze are far from certain, and will depend in part on how policy makers respond. This will be the number one task facing the new Prime Minister.
How tight will the income squeeze get this winter, and who will be most affected? How should the new Prime Minister approach tackling this crisis? What mix of tax and benefit policies, or market interventions, might be needed? And what might the Government’s approach mean for the policy makers at the Bank of England?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an event to debate and discuss these questions. Following a presentation of key highlights from our latest Living Standards Outlook, we will hear from leading experts on how the new Prime Minister might approach tackling the country’s deepening cost-of-living crisis.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/in-at-the-deep-end/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/a-bleak-midwinter/ 

Whose wealth boom? Assessing the UK’s changing wealth gaps

Britain has experienced a wealth surge in recent decades even as household incomes have stagnated. Wealth really matters in both good times and tough times – from young families buying their first home, to drawing on savings in the face of rising energy bills. But not everyone has shared in Britain’s wealth boom, and understanding the wealth gaps that exist across the country are important as people’s financial resilience is tested over the coming months.
How has wealth inequality changed over recent decades? What has that meant for different groups and parts of the UK? What role does negative wealth – debt – play? And what do these findings mean for households’ living standards and policy makers’ decisions?
To mark the launch of its annual Wealth Audit, in partnership with the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, the Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the report’s key highlights, we will hear from leading experts on what these findings tell us about the state of wealth inequality and debt in modern Britain, and discuss what these trends mean for living standards.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/arrears-fears/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/whose-wealth-boom/ 

Monetary policy in troubled times and beyond: Valedictory speech by MPC Member Michael Saunders

Having taken more of a backseat in the economic policy response to the pandemic, monetary policy is back centre stage as central banks around the world grapple with the highest inflation many countries have seen in generations. Monetary policy makers are having to make crucial judgements over the pace and scale of interest rates rises against an economic backdrop that is highly uncertain in both the short- and medium-term.
How quickly should interest rates be rising with inflation heading to double-digit levels? What is the outlook for inflation, interest rates, wages and growth in Britain? And how might the role of monetary policy evolve as it responds to the challenges of the coming decade?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an event to mark Michael Saunders’ final speech on the Monetary Policy Committee. In his speech, Michael will consider his time on the interest rate setting body, what to make of recent split votes, and the possibility that demographic change will weigh on the growth of potential supply in the coming years.
View the event and presentation slides here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/monetary-policy-in-troubled-times-and-beyond/