Resolution Foundation Event Recordings

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/ 

How to navigate economic storms: Lessons from Britain’s past

Britain is one of many countries today in the midst of an economic storm – battered by high inflation, rising interest rates and falling GDP, and set against a wider backdrop of low growth and high inequality. But this is merely the latest of many economic storms the country has had to weather in recent decades, and Britain is hardly alone in having to confront major economic challenges. From the break-up of economic trading blocs, to eras of profound political instability and disruptive price shocks, many other nations have had to adjust to profound economic change, for better and for worse.
As Britain navigates the economic challenges of the decade – from changing macroeconomic norms, to our post-Brexit place in the world and the net zero transition – it’s important to learn from the successes and mistakes of previous periods of economic change, both at home and abroad.
To do this, The Economy 2030 Inquiry – a collaboration between the Resolution Foundation and the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – is publishing a series of essays by renowned economists from around the world.
The first four essays – an assessment of how the UK economy has adjusted to other periods of disruptive change over the last century, the lessons and legacies of the 1980s, warnings from Italy’s economic stagnation, and the successes and failures of ‘crazy ideas’ in Estonia’s radical transformation – will be published on Thursday 17th November, with more to come in the months ahead.
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar to launch the two essays focussed on lessons from recent UK economic history. Speakers include three of Britain’s leading economists: Nick Crafts and John Muellbauer (who have authored two of the essays) and Diane Coyle. The essays on Italy and Estonia are being launched at a separate event at the Bristol Festival of Economics.
Read the essays: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/themes/navigating-economic-change/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/how-to-navigate-economic-storms/ 

Impact investing in technology to address skills and employment challenges

Resolution Foundation event during Week of VocTech
Ufi Ventures, the Resolution Foundation and guests explore the future of investment in impact, with a focus on skills technology.
The session will explore:
What is the opportunity for early-stage investing in new solutions to tackle ‘future of work’ skills and employment challenges?
What is the market outlook for impact businesses compared to others in the changing market conditions?
What do impact investors in skills technology look for?
What does success look like for venture investing in this space?
What’s the benefit to a founder of finding an impact investor? What advantages do impact driven companies have?
How effective are the emerging models being used in impact investing?
Watch back the event here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/impact-investing-in-technology-to-address-skills-and-employment-challenges/ 

Mortgaged millennials to bitterly cold boomers: Assessing the cost of living crisis across generations

Rising energy bills are with us and rising mortgage bills are on the way. While wages are falling far behind inflation, debates rage about whether benefits or the state pension should do the same. Older workers have not returned to the labour market post-Covid, while younger workers may suffer most from the unemployment rise the Bank of England now deems necessary. Britain is in the midst of a cost of living crisis that has many different components, with the result that its scale and nature varies across age groups depending on their jobs, assets and financial resilience.
What economic state were different generations in before the cost of living crisis? How will different age groups experience the current crisis and its various components? To what extent has the Government’s response to the crisis redistributed the costs and benefits fairly across generations? And what policies could help to ensure that both old and young people enjoy a brighter economic future?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from its annual Intergenerational Audit, carried out in collaboration with the ESRC-funded ‘Connecting Generations’, we will hear from leading experts on what these findings tell us about the economic state of different age groups and the challenges – and opportunities – facing policymakers in sharing the burden of the cost of living crisis fairly.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/an-intergenerational-audit-for-the-uk-2022/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/mortgaged-millennials-to-bitterly-cold-boomers/