Resolution Foundation Events Podcast

Preparing the pitch: What to expect in the upcoming Autumn Statement

The Chancellor has two just two more fiscal events in which to prepare the economic pitch for the upcoming General Election. The backdrop is a challenging and uncertain economic environment, alongside huge pressure on both public services and finances. With the Prime Minister making a virtue of the need to take tough decisions, the Chancellor will trying to both prepare his party for the coming election and the country, struggling with sluggish growth, for the decades ahead.
What is the outlook for the UK economy as inflation falls but interest rates remain high? Will the Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest economic forecasts ease or tighten the pressure on the public finances? What decisions will the Chancellor take on tax and benefits, public and private investment and wider economic reform – and are those decisions the right ones? And what will the Autumn Statement tell us about the government’s economic pitch in the General Election?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of highlights from its pre-Autumn Statement report, we will hear from leading experts on what the Autumn Statement means for British economics and politics.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/preparing-the-pitch/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/preparing-the-pitch/ 

Creaking at the seams: Can we bring Britain’s trains, drains and mains into the 21st Century?

Britain faces a simply huge infrastructure challenge. As well as decarbonising our homes, we need to modernise our water, energy and transport networks, replacing basic infrastructure that often dates back to the Victorian era. Achieving this is likely to require major investment, regulatory reform and new institutions to drive forward change, as well as a strong will to stay the course. And Britain’s recent record is somewhat chequered…
How big is our Britain’s infrastructure challenge? How can public institutions support private sector investment? How important are new regulations, regulators and wider institutions in rebuilding Britain? And what barriers are we going to need to overcome?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, in partnership 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 the key highlights from new Inquiry-commissioned research by Mary Starks on how to regulate for the rebuilding of Britain’s infrastructure, we will hear from leading experts on this huge political and economic challenge.
Read the policy paper here: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/watts-the-plan/ 
Watch the event: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/creaking-at-the-seams/ 

People-powered growth: Equipping young people with the skills Britain needs to prosper

Britain urgently needs to boost its economic growth. But while there are many routes to doing so, most ultimately come down to people boosting national prosperity – and to do this they need the right skills for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. But Britain’s record on skills is chequered – its often world leading universities are politically unfashionable, routes into good work for non-graduates are limited, and too many employers have foregone their role in skilling our workforce.
How can we ensure growing sectors of the economy have enough tertiary-educated workers? How can we improve outcomes for those who don’t go to university? Can we ever make apprenticeships work at scale? And how can we ensure that Britain’s skills policy is driving better pay, progression and GDP growth?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, in partnership 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 the key highlights from new research on the roles of graduate and non-graduate routes in equipping young people with the skills needed to boost individual and national prosperity, we will hear from leading experts on how Britain can align its skills policy with its economic strategy.
Read the reports: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/people-powered-growth/ 

Riding the economic rollercoaster: Is Britain’s macroeconomic policy framework fit for purpose?

Britain’s macroeconomic policy that the Treasury and Bank of England have got used to is crisis management – from a financial crash to a global pandemic and a huge inflation spike. Both have adopted new approaches to supporting the economy, going far beyond textbook cuts to interest rates. Today the legacy is higher levels of debt, amid huge uncertainties about the future path of interest rates. But Britain’s macroeconomic policy framework – from the Chancellor’s fiscal rules to the Bank’s inflation target – remain largely unchanged this century.
Do today’s higher interest rates mean monetary policy makers have more scope to support the economy in a downturn? Or if a world of ultra-low interest rates returns, what does it mean for monetary policy effectiveness and inflation targeting? Can the Treasury repeat the likes of furlough or caps on energy prices when the next crisis hits? And would it take to meet both main parties’ commitment to see debt falling as a share of GDP – to fix the fiscal roof when the economic sun eventually gets round to shining once again?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, in partnership 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 the key highlights from new research on the big fiscal and monetary policy challenges facing Britain in the decade ahead, we will hear from leading experts on how to confront them.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/built-to-last/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/riding-the-economic-rollercoaster/ 

Worlds apart: Why is UK inflation so much higher than in the US?

The last few years have not been easy times for any advanced economies. The UK, US, and Eurozone have all buffeted by major economic shocks, most recently by the most significant inflation surge in four decades. But while there are many common themes – huge inflation pressures, rising interest rates, tight labour markets and weak GDP growth – the drivers and evolution of these trends vary from country to country. The UK currently has higher inflation than seen across the Atlantic, and some expect it to see interest rates remain higher for longer too.
Why has inflation risen and fallen at different scales and speeds in different countries – and on different sides of the Atlantic? What does that tell us about who is most, and least, likely to experience a ‘soft landing’ from recent interest rate hikes? And what might this mean for elections expected in the US and UK next autumn?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – in partnership with leading US think-thank The Brookings Institution – to debate and answer these questions. We will hear from former Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board Donald Kohn on inflation in the US, and from other economists on the differences and similarities between the recent economic shocks felt in the UK, the US and other advanced economies, and what this might mean for their economic outlooks.
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/worlds-apart/ 

Creating a Good Jobs economy: Lecture by Professor Dani Rodrik

Advanced economies across the world have been buffeted by acute shocks crises like the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, at the same time as they are grappling with longer-term challenges like deindustrialisation, the rise of AI and globalisation. Labour markets across a range of countries have experienced persistent wage stagnation, the rise of insecure work, and growing calls for ‘good jobs’.
These shocks and challenges may be shared in nature but nations are developing different policy responses. Good jobs is a key pillar of Biden’s economic strategy, underpinned by the Inflation Reduction Act. But the UK lacks a good jobs strategy of its own, or indeed a wider economic strategy to tackle its twin challenges of low growth and high inequality.
What would a good jobs strategy in Britain look like? How would it stretch across trade, labour market, net zero, tax and benefit, and industrial policy? And what can we learn from current debates in the US about how to build a Good Jobs economy?
These are key questions for The Economy 2030 Inquiry, and that one of the world’s leading economists – Professor Dani Rodrik – will answer in a major lecture this autumn, hosted by the Resolution Foundation. Dani will set out his approach for a ‘good jobs’ strategy, including where it has applied successfully in the US.
View the event slides here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/creating-a-good-jobs-economy/ 

More change please: Why Britain needs a more dynamic economy

Change is accelerating, or so we are told. But while the world is changing, it’s far less clear that Britain’s economy is. In fact we’re seeing less industrial change, as some sectors grow and others shrink, than has been the case for decades. Fewer workers are moving jobs. This matters because, while many of us are ambivalent about change, such economic dynamism has historically been a big driver of productivity – and pay – growth.
What has happened to the pace of economic change – for workers, firms and the economy as a whole? How much does this matter? Can policy makers help to foster a more dynamic economy? And what should be done to deal with the disruption that a more dynamic economy could bring?
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 how to encourage more dynamism, we will hear from leading experts on the gains, challenges and trade-offs that more economic change will bring.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/ready-for-change/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/more-change-please/ 

Risk reduction: Can earnings insurance underpin a more dynamic jobs market and a more productive economy?

Losing your job in Britain can be a very expensive business. Low and flat rate benefits leave many workers facing huge income falls if they face a period out of work. This gives them a strong incentive to take a new job quickly – but not necessarily the best fit for their talents. And it discourages people from taking the risk of moving to a new job if they don’t know how it will work out. This is a problem for the worker, given moving jobs is a key way to secure a pay rise, and for all of us, holding back productivity growth that a more dynamic labour market supports.
How big is the problem of low job mobility in Britain, and how does it stunt pay and productivity growth? To what extent does the benefit system help or hinder workers’ ability and willingness to move jobs, and how well does it protect workers’ living standards when they experience unemployment? What would an effective earnings insurance system actually look like? And how much might it cost?
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 a new earnings insurance system might work, we will hear from leading experts on how that system might impact UK dynamism.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/from-safety-net-to-springboard/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/risk-reduction/