Resolution Foundation Events Podcast

Wealth booms and debt burdens: How Britain’s recent economic history and outlook affects different generations

Part of the ESRC funded Connecting Generations Thought Leader series.
The financial crisis is largely considered to have increased inequalities between generations, with rising public debt leading to higher taxes for future generations, while the gains from rising asset prices have been accrued by older generations. Private intergenerational wealth transfers have grown – notably through the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ – but the scale and direction of public sector transfers are less clear cut. How policymakers confront the UK’s economic challenges – from tax rises and spending cuts, to priorities for public services and a new strategy for growth – will have varying implications for different generations.
How has the fallout from the financial crisis affected the financial resilience of different generations in the UK? To what extent are younger generations today worse off than previous generations were at the same age, and how might this change in coming decades? And what can policymakers do to minimise the gaps both between and within generations which have already arisen, and ensure that future policies share the financial burden fairly?
As part of the Connecting Generations series of Thought Leader Talks, the Resolution Foundation is hosting an event with Professor James Sefton to discuss new research on private and public intergenerational transfers since the financial crisis. He will be joined by Professor Jane Falkingham (ESRC Connecting Generations, University of Southampton) and the session will be chaired by the Rt. Hon. Lord David Willetts (President of the Resolution Foundation).
View the event slides here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/wealth-booms-and-debt-burdens/ 

New year, renewed squeeze? The outlook for living standards in 2023 and beyond

Britain’s cost-of-living crisis has been brutal this winter – even with significant government support – as bills rise and real wages fall. Inflation should ease in the year ahead, but government support is also being scaled back and rising interest rates will feed through into higher mortgage costs. The outlook is highly uncertain.
How are families coping with the cost-of-living crisis this winter, and what do they see as the challenges ahead? How are different groups being affected and coping with the squeeze? What comes next in terms of the living standards outlook for this parliament? Is the worst behind or ahead of us? And what difference has, and should, policy make?
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 the Foundation’s Living Standards Outlook 2023 – which includes a new survey of 10,000 people’s recent experiences of the crisis, funded by the Health Foundation – we will hear from leading experts on Britain’s living standards challenges.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/the-living-standards-outlook-2023/ 
View the event: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/new-year-renewed-squeeze/ 

Getting warmth up and bills down: How can the UK insulate its housing stock?

The current energy crisis has highlighted the disaster that is Britain’s poorly insulated housing stock – costing millions of households hundreds of pounds this winter alone. And it is about time, with drastically improving the energy efficiency of our homes the biggest net zero challenge of the 2020s. But progress has been far too slow in recent years, on installing energy efficiency measures, or on answering some of the detailed policy questions this challenge brings with it.
What are the biggest barriers to bringing Britain’s Victorian housing stock into the 21st Century? Do households always have a financial incentive to do the right thing on energy efficiency measures? How should policy makers vary their approach across different tenures? And how can policymakers ensure that any incentives for installing insulation are distributed fairly, and drive change at a sufficient scale and pace to fulfil the UK’s net zero obligations?
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 new research on the challenges of insulating the UK’s housing stock and our proposed policy solutions, we will hear from leading experts – including the Chair of the Government’s Net Zero Review Chris Skidmore MP – on the feasibility of putting these policies into practice.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/hitting-a-brick-wall/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/getting-warmth-up-and-bills-down/ 

The experts strike back? A joint Resolution Foundation and Political Quarterly launch for Politicians and economic experts by Anna Killick

The relationship between politicians and economists has always been complicated, and it has become particularly rocky in Britain over the last decade. Divisions during the Brexit referendum prompted Michael Gove to quip that Britain had ‘had enough of experts’ while a key pillar of Trussonomics was challenging existing economic institutions from the Treasury to the Bank of England and OBR. But technocrats remain a dominant force in economic policy making, and as politicians seek to overturn the UK’s recent record of economic stagnation the relationship between these two disciplines is as important as ever.
Have politicians and economists lost faith in each other, or is the picture more nuanced? What are the pros and cons of delegating more economic policy decision-making to experts? And how can politicians better improve voters’ understanding of the economy, and respond to voters’ economic concerns?
The Resolution Foundation together with Political Quarterly are hosting an event to mark the publication of a new book Politicians and economic experts: the limits of technocracy by Anna Killick to debate and answer these questions. Joining Anna will be two of the leading economic thinkers in UK politics – David Gauke and Yvette Cooper, both of whom have served as Chief Treasury Secretaries and Work and Pensions Secretaries – to discuss how politicians can do economics better.
Watch the event back: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/the-experts-strike-back/ 

Clocking in and out: Is choice or circumstance driving part-time work among low earners?

Working hours, not just hourly pay rates, are a key determinant of living standards. Historically, men have tended to work more paid hours than women, with working hours for both sexes increasing substantially between the ages of 18 and 25. But over recent decades these trends appear to be weakening, with increasing numbers of young people – and particularly men – choosing to work fewer hours. Working fewer hours can be seen as a result of a positive consequences of rising pay. But equally, combining low hours with low pay can have very negative consequences for people’s living standards and wider inequality.
How many young people are underemployed today compared to recent decades? To what extent are changes in underemployment due to people’s changing preferences around work? How concerned should policymakers be about this trend? And what are the potential long-term impacts of lower working hours on people and the wider labour market?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an event to debate and discuss these questions. Following a presentation of the Foundation’s analysis, using quantitative analysis and focus groups, funded by the Health Foundation, we will hear from leading experts on the implications of working low hours for young people’s futures.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/constrained-choices/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/clocking-in-and-out/ 

The future of the UK economy: The role of the West Midlands in renewing the UK’s economic strategy

The United Kingdom is facing a decisive decade of huge economic change, from restructuring after Brexit and the pandemic, to urgently transitioning towards a net zero future, and adapting to technological shifts amid an ageing population. 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 West Midlands’ 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 Manchester.
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 hosting this event to debate and answer these questions. Based on the research findings from the Inquiry so far, we will be joined by leading experts to discuss how different areas of the UK have responded to past periods of economic change, and how to make the coming decade of change a success.
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/the-future-of-the-uk-economy-west-midlands/ 

The future of the UK economy: Navigating a route to a fairer and more prosperous Wales, 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 Wales, such as being a hub for renewable energy and manufacturing. But failing to respond to the disruption these changes also carries huge risks – to our living standards, our communities, and to our planet. Wales’ 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 hosting this event to debate and answer these questions. Based on the research findings from the Inquiry so far, we will discuss how the UK, and Wales in particular, has responded to past periods of economic change. We will be joined by leading experts, including Vaughan Gething, Welsh Minister for the Economy, 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-wales/ 

A fiscal reset? Assessing the Autumn Statement 2022

The new Prime Minister and Chancellor have set one central objective for the Autumn Statement – restore economic credibility. They have set the test for doing so as putting the public finances back on a sustainable path by ensuring that debt is falling as a share of the economy. The size of the fiscal reset needed to achieve that is uncertain – with estimates ranging from £40-60 billion – but what is certain is that tough choices on tax and spend are coming. The Autumn Statement will reset the UK’s fiscal policy and set the course for Rishi Sunak’s entire premiership.
What approach has the Chancellor taken to navigating the hit to the public finances from rising interest rates globally and the UK specific aftermath of the mini-Budget? How has he balanced tax rises and spending cuts? Where will this leave household living standards and the quality of public services? And has the Government helped or hindered Britain’s ongoing quest for stronger economic growth?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an event to unpack the Autumn Statement, and to debate and answer these questions. After a presentation of key highlights from the Foundation’s overnight analysis of the Autumn Statement, we will hear from leading experts – including the Chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility Richard Hughes – on what the economic and political ramifications of this landmark fiscal event are.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/help-today-squeeze-tomorrow/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/a-fiscal-reset/