Policy making beyond Westminster

Economic lessons from 25 years of national devolution

Monday 29 April 2024

1999 saw the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Senedd all meet in their full form for the first time. This marked the most significant act of devolution of the 20th Century, and it has changed the United Kingdom significantly over the past quarter of a century. The process of devolution has continued … Continued

Riding the economic rollercoaster

Is Britain’s macroeconomic policy framework fit for purpose?

Thursday 19 October 2023

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 … Continued

Wealth booms and debt burdens

How Britain’s recent economic history and outlook affects different generations

Wednesday 11 January 2023

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 … Continued

What next?

The impact of Trussonomics, tax cuts and market turmoil

Thursday 29 September 2022

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 … Continued

Returning to centre stage

Fiscal policy in the recovery

Tuesday 1 June 2021

Fiscal policy has returned centre stage during the Covid-19 pandemic. But as countries begin to recovery from the crisis, they are taking different approaches to the scale of fiscal expansion and the timing of fiscal retrenchment. What is the right approach to fiscal policy in the recovery, and what are the challenges in terms of … Continued

Paying for Covid

Repairing the public finances without derailing the economy

Thursday 12 November 2020

COVID-19 has already been extremely expensive, with borrowing forecast to exceed £400 billion this year and a substantial deficit set to continue well after the crisis has passed. But that borrowing has been crucial in supporting the economy through the deepest recession for 300 years and government spending has a crucial role to play in … Continued

The corona crisis

The economic impact of COVID-19

Thursday 16 April 2020

The coronavirus public health crisis has quickly turned into an economic crisis. The necessary social distancing measures have closed down huge swathes of the UK economy, while the Government has committed hundreds of billions of pounds to supporting firms and workers through the downturn. Amid huge uncertainty about the scale and duration of the crisis, it is crucial that … Continued

Rewriting the rule book

A new fiscal framework for new economic times

Tuesday 29 October 2019

We present our latest paper from our Macroeconomic Policy Unit on what the UK’s new fiscal rules should be, followed by a debate by an expert panel on the pros and cons of new fiscal rules.

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