The wealth of a nation

This event was in Edinburgh.

Record low interest rates over the past 30 years led to a wealth boom, with Scottish households seeing wealth rise by £700 billion since the financial crisis alone. But surging interest rates in 2022 have brought this era to an abrupt end, causing pension valuations to crater, mortgage costs to rise, and house prices to fall. Who holds this wealth, where they live and how their wealth is likely to evolve in the coming years has profound implications for politics and policy in Scotland.

How is wealth distributed across the nations of the UK and what determines its variation? How is Scotland likely to be affected by the outlook for asset prices and interest rates in the years ahead? And what actions should policy makers in Scotland be considering in a world of falling wealth, but large wealth gaps?

The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person event in Edinburgh – as part of our ongoing wealth across Britain project, in partnership with the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust – to debate and explore these questions. Following a presentation of the key report highlights, we will hear from leading experts on what the changing scale and nature of wealth in Scotland means for policy and politics.