Resolution Foundation Events Podcast

Pivot Pivot! Assessing the UK’s new Indo-Pacific trade focus

The UK’s exit from the EU has given it the freedom to pursue an independent trade strategy for the first time in four decades. To date, post-Brexit trade debate has focused on lost access to EU markets, roll-over deals preserving the status quo, and a lack of progress with the US. But the start of trade negotiations with India last week marks an attempt to start a fresh chapter in the UK’s trade strategy – a pivot towards distant but fast growing markets of the Indo-Pacific region.
What are the big opportunities from pursing a new Asia-focused trade strategy? Which sectors would be most exposed to increased competition? How much difference could trade liberalisation with India make? And how does the current focus on manufacturing gains square with two of the world’s largest major services exporters liberalising trade?
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 Resolution Foundation on the UK’s trade pivot towards the Indo-Pacific region, we will hear from leading experts on the opportunities and challenges from this new strategy.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/a-presage-to-india/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/pivot-pivot/ 

Beyond Beveridge: Have social security shifts prepared us for economic change?

The modern welfare state is approaching its 75th anniversary, but continual reforms and wider economic change mean that it bears little resemblance to the system first envisaged by William Beveridge. And it faces new challenges, with Covid, Brexit and net zero – coupled with rapid demographic and technological change – set to reshape our economy in the 2020s.
What changes has the welfare state seen in recent decades? How strong is our basic safety net? What protection exists for those temporarily falling on hard times? How well suited is our social security system for the big economic changes of the 2020s? And how can the UK’s safety net be strengthened?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, a joint project with the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE, and funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of new research on how the welfare system has changed in recent decades, and may need to change over the coming decade, we will hear from leading experts Minouche Shafik and Nick Timmins on how our shifting social security copes with economic change.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/social-insecurity/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/beyond-beveridge/ 

New year, old pandemic: Assessing the politics, economics and epidemiology of 2022

With Omicron cases the only thing rising faster than energy bills, 2022 is off to a difficult start. The pandemic and cost of living pressures will continue to dominate political and economic debates through 2022, but what that means for strains on the NHS and family budgets, or volatile GDP and poll ratings, is hugely uncertain.
Will the impact of Omicron get worse before it gets better, and how long might this wave last? How might Covid affect the economy in 2022 – from British jobs to global trade disruption? How will the cost of living squeeze shape our politics? And what are the unknown unknowns that we should look out for in 2022?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar to debate and discuss these questions. We will hear from John Burn-Murdoch, Stephanie Flanders and Stephen Bush on what will shape British politics and economics in the year ahead, before an interactive audience Q&A.
View the event slides here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/new-year-old-pandemic/ 

Changing jobs? How economic change affects the world of work

The labour market has changed substantially over the past 60 years – from fewer factories and more health services, to working with new machines or being replaced by them. In the decade ahead it will change again thanks to Brexit, Covid-19 and the net zero transition. But the relationship between how the labour market as a whole changes and what it means for individuals are more complex than is normally assumed, with job moves often driven by different considerations, such as boosting pay or fitting with wider life choices.
How has recent economic change affected the structure of the UK labour market? Has change become more common as is often claimed? When do workers benefit from job change, and when do they lose out? And how prepared are workers for the big labour market changes coming this decade?
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 Resolution Foundation and LSE research on how recent economic change has affected the UK labour market, we will hear from leading experts on how to ensure workers benefit from future labour market shifts.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/changing-jobs/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/changing-jobs/ 

Crunch time: The causes and consequences of Britain’s cost of living squeeze

A faster than expected economic recovery has evolved into an entirely unexpected cost of living squeeze. Energy bills surges, and hot competition for second hand cars or even Christmas presents, means that household bills are rising more swiftly than workers’ pay packets. Policy matters too, with some families seeing benefit cuts this Autumn, while others face taxes rises in April. In a week when we get crucial data on inflation, and a decision on interest rates, the causes and consequences of Britain’s ongoing cost of living squeeze will be on everyone’s minds.
What is driving inflation in the UK, and what are prospects for the months ahead? How has, and will, policy ease or exacerbate the squeeze? What difference will an interest rate rise make? And, crucially, how are families coping with the impact of rapidly rising prices, and what can be done to help them through the tough months ahead?
The Resolution Foundation and Citizens Advice are co-hosting an interactive webinar to debate and answer these questions. Following short presentations on the cause and effect of the financial pressures families are currently facing, we will hear from leading experts on how Britain’s cost of living crunch might evolve and what, if anything, policy can do to ease these pressures.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/the-new-wave/ 

The Great British wealth windfall: Is now the time to reform property taxation?

House prices across the UK have rocketed over recent decades, and have continued to surge even when the rest of the economy collapsed during the Covid crisis. This has delivered a huge wealth windfall, that far from being shared equally has gone to existing asset owners. This windfall has also largely slipped past the tax system, which focuses instead on taxing transactions and residents through Stamp Duty and Council Tax.
What is the scale and distribution of the UK’s property wealth windfall? Should we shift the focus of property taxation towards capital gains rather than transactions? If so, how? Is there any public appetite for reforming our highly flawed approach to wealth taxes, and how can support for change be built on?
The Resolution Foundation, in partnership with Standard Life Foundation, is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new Resolution Foundation research on this topic, we will hear from leading experts on the nature of the wealth windfall, how the tax system might respond, and whether there’s any public support for such change.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/home-county/ 

Hope to buy? Assessing trends in home ownership

Purchasing a house has traditionally been seen as one of the key milestones in adulthood, providing not just a home but financial security for many. But with youth home ownership having declined substantially over the past three decades, this milestone is increasingly one many may not reach.
How have trends in youth home ownership changed over recent years? To what extent do factors such as location, occupation, ethnicity and income affect young people’s chances of buying a house? What are the main barriers to home ownership for young people? And what can policymakers do to enable young people to overcome these challenges and get onto the housing ladder?
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 new Resolution Foundation research, supported by Lloyds Banking Group, on changing trends in youth home ownership, we will hear from leading experts on how to help young people onto the housing ladder.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/hope-to-buy/ 

Back to the future: What comes next for the UK’s post-pandemic labour market?

At the onset of the pandemic, there were widespread concerns about catastrophic levels of unemployment in the face of lockdowns. But extending the furlough scheme has kept a lid on unemployment, while the reopening of the economy this summer has sparked a ‘jobs-rush’. As the UK labour market enters a new phase, it is important to be clear about which pandemic induced shifts for our world of work will be temporary and which mark long-term structural change.
What is the state of the post-furlough labour market? What changes can be seen in how and where we work? Who is working? Which of these changes are likely to become permanent features of our post-pandemic economy? And how should policymakers view these long-term changes to the labour market?
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 Resolution Foundation research on the lasting impact of the pandemic on the labour market, we will hear from leading experts on what this means for the economy over the coming decade.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/begin-again/