This week’s New Economy Brief goes a little deeper than your usual post-Budget summaries and asks: why are we in this mess and how do we get out of it? neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/w...

A decade of national renewal? Not exactly. The chancellor's public investment plans don't come close to our historic investment levels. Underinvestment has left us with sewage in our rivers, constant railway disruptions, crumbling schools and a shortage of hospital beds.

Responding to the Autumn Budget, Louis Willis, Director of the Invest in Britain campaign, said:

We brought the voices of 68,749 people to Downing Street today📣 - thank you to @richardburgon.bsky.social and @simonforstroud.bsky.social for joining us! To everyone who signed, shared, or emailed their MP - thank you so much 💚 Fingers crossed for #TaxTheBanks in the Budget on Wednesday 🤞

NEW! How should Labour respond to the two key issues to voters of the economy and immigration and what are the electoral stakes this week of the budget? Read on for our answer... @nprcoxford.bsky.social @jrf-uk.bsky.social

Ramping up public investment is the best route out of the UK’s productivity crisis. Our new report finds increasing public investment by an additional 2% of GDP per year would kickstart growth, raise average earnings, and strengthen the public finances. inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Scrapping the cap entirely is both good policy *and* good politics. Half measures will "save" some money short-term, but will piss *everybody* off and still leave very large numbers of children suffering from a policy designed to make them poorer. inews.co.uk/news/politic...

This was excellent. I’ve been trying to put my finger on what is making UK politics feel so airless at the moment and I think a big part of it is the futurelessness that Mulgan diagnoses here.

Late period Osborne: interest rates at zero and 50-80bn of headroom: and his priority was “don’t invest”.

Responding to the Chancellor's speech, Louis Willis, Director of the Invest in Britain campaign, said:

Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term www.gov.uk/government/p...

Enjoyed this wide-ranging discussion across fiscal + monetary policy and the links between them. Great to hear clarity and challenge on subjects that are too often mystified and naturalised.

Great new research that is worth a read for anyone interested in the politics of fiscal policy. For me, two key takeaways: - Voters will punish Labour for failing on child poverty, whatever they say about two-child limit as standalone policy - Voters love wealth taxes, even when framed negatively

The wealth gap between rich and poor increased by over 50% from 2011 to 2021, to over £11.5 trillion. Find out more about the impacts on our society, economy, democracy and environment, and what we can do about it, from our updated Wealth Gap Risk Register.

Great story illustrating how legacies of under-investment and privatisation have fed into current crises in cost of living and local govt finances. Action in Brighton sounds promising too but national govt needs to do more to support scaling these kind of solutions.

Labour MPs want the Chancellor to go beyond fiscal tinkering at the upcoming Budget. New polling reveals a majority of Labour MPs (52%) think the Chancellor should raise taxes to fund more spending & investment rather than just to meet her fiscal rules: labourlist.org/2025/10/labo...

This week's New Economy Brief looks at the crisis in local government funding - its roots, its consequences and possible solutions: neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/c...

Sof has managed to write about patriotism with a sense of humour and while avoiding cringe earnestness on the one hand or derision on the other. In carrying off this near-impossible feat she has perfectly embodied the culture she’s writing about here. Enjoyed this very much.

Responding to the Chancellor's speech at the Labour Party Conference today, Louis Willis, Director of the Invest in Britain campaign, said:

Hope this doesn’t prove to be the case. The government has talked a good game on exactly this kind of infrastructure investment - now it needs to deliver. And coming just before Liverpool conference would be all too reminiscent of Sunak on HS2 in Manchester 2023. www.bbc.com/news/article...

What was in the US-UK Tech Prosperity deal? How does it fit into wider trade negotiations with the US? And what are the implications of conceding to the demands of the ‘Big Tech’ lobby? We explore all this and more in this week's New Economy Brief: neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/t...

Higher investment, sustainable spending, raise taxes/reform pensions so better-off older people pay their share. Advice for the Chancellor from Gus O'Donnell, @mazzucatom.bsky.social, Jim O'Neill, @uofgvc.bsky.social @elerianm.bsky.social, @sjwrenlewis.bsky.social & me. archive.ph/I9PVc#select...

Some of the UK’s most distinguished economists have written to the Chancellor warning that fiscal sustainability will not be achieved “without a significant further increase in public investment” to drive economic growth: www.thetimes.com/article/5acc...

🚀🌍 Project Boost is collaborating with @econchange.bsky.social to run Economics 101, a new series aimed at increasing your understanding of our economy. Join us, @chaitanyakumar.bsky.social & @louiswillis.bsky.social for 'Making sense of Reeves' fiscal rules'. 🗓️ 18 Sep, 10:00am Request access:

I used to take it for granted that the OBR will downgrade its productivity forecast in the autumn, leading to a chunky fiscal contraction. But the talented @willellisecon.bsky.social looked into the data and convinced me otherwise. Evidence base is really not as clear cut as some suggest. 👇

We want to make sure Rachel Reeves MP sees some important % and ££s: 🇬🇧 80% of UK millionaires support a 2% tax on wealth over £10m 🇬🇧 81% think it’s patriotic to pay their fair share We’re proud to pay and here to stay #taxthesuperrich #taxwealthnotwork

🧵New polling from @investinbritain.bsky.social by @survation.bsky.social reveals a majority of Labour MPs want the Chancellor to change course on fiscal policy. 1/8 thetimes.com/article/6448...

Tackling the childcare crisis. This week, we explore the economic case for childcare investment and the arguments for counting it as capital rather than current spending. www.neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/t...

What if the decisions behind the government's benefit cuts were based partly on inaccurate data? ‍ This week we explore ongoing problems with some of the most important economic indicators calculated by the Office for National Statistics: neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/c...

🚨NEW: Anneliese Dodds says govt must ‘reassess’ fiscal rules and taxation pledges in first speech since resignation “We must be prepared to reassess shibboleths, whether they be the fiscal rules, as Germany has done, or on taxation.” Thread of clips from this thoughtful speech 👇

The OBR was created in 2010, and it’s no coincidence that the UK has been stuck in an economic doom loop since then Governments repeatedly design budgets to game the OBR’s highly uncertain projections of highly problematic fiscal rules. This is part of the doom loop

@investinbritain.bsky.social has put out a briefing on why the Chancellor cut spending yesterday and why this was a mistake. There's a growing case to review a fiscal framework that is no longer serving either growth or fiscal sustainability. investinbritain.org.uk/resource/bri...

Yesterday the Chancellor announced £8.4bn of cuts to welfare and departmental spending in order to meet her fiscal rules. This decision is based on forecasts which the OBR warn are highly uncertain. 1/4

NEW from @jrf-uk.bsky.social Much has been made of the pressure on public finances. Household finances remain the elephant in the room. If OBR adjust their Mar forecast in line with the BoE in Feb, it will see the average family £1,400/yr worse off by 2030, compared with today. Thread.

Letter to the Chancellor in advance of the Spring Statement, from @mazzucatom.bsky.social @sjwrenlewis.bsky.social @dgbailey.bsky.social me & others. www.ft.com/content/4b0d...

A group of the UK’s most distinguished economists have written to the Chancellor, warning her that new cuts to spending or investment at the Spring Statement would be a “profound mistake”: www.ft.com/content/4b0d...

Groundblob day? One for all my civil service pals out there…

We’re out and about across the UK today to tell MPs and constituents that our country is missing out on £460m a week without a wealth tax. Rachel Reeves doesn’t need to make cuts, instead she can tax the richest people like us to build a better Britain. #TaxOurWealth

What do pressures on defence spending mean for the wider fiscal picture? This week’s we explore the proposals on offer in Germany and the EU about how to fund defence and compare them to the policy options on offer in the UK debate: neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/t...

🌍 This week, we unpack the CCC's recommendations, the outlook for net zero and why public investment is key to reaching climate change targets. www.neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/t... @thecccuk.bsky.social

Energy security is national security. GB Energy can help deliver both by scaling homegrown clean power. If the Chancellor is to cut spending, it’ll leave Britain less secure & more exposed — with households facing higher bills & the betrayal of a popular manifesto commitment.

Breaking: Uplift welcomes a very sensible decision from the Court of Session invalidating the decision to approve the Rosebank oil field. Rosebank is a disaster for the climate & will do next to nothing to create the prosperity & stability that the UK needs. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Interested in being part of a growing, purpose-driven team focused on driving progressive change in Scotland? We are recruiting for two new positions: 📊 Senior Economist 🗣️ Advocacy and Engagement Lead Read on to find out more about the roles!

This sounds brilliant. Would love to see something like this in the still sadly vacant M&S building on Walworth Road. What do you think @lb-southwark.bsky.social and @walworthsociety.bsky.social?

Great article. Regional devo also feels critical for push to net zero. Clearly needed for transport but also for green industrial policy more widely, and arguably for parts of housing and energy policy too.

NEW The move to heat pumps is gathering pace. October 2024 saw a 17.5% growth in applications for air source heat pump grants, on October 2023. There were 3,769 applications last month, highest number since the Boiler Upgrade Scheme started. Govt stats today www.gov.uk/government/s...

A thread on why the Government shouldn’t relax its targets on electric car sales

🚙 How can we make sense of the Vauxhall/Stellantis factory closure? First must avoid mixing up cause and effect, just because this is happening at the same time as the ZEV mandate doesn't mean it's the cause It's clear IMO that this has nothing to do with net zero regulations

Note to journalists reporting on EV sales targets Dr James Richardson, Director of Analysis at @thecccuk.bsky.social, has said that the car market is *on track to meet this year’s targets for EV sales* Pls bear this in mind when repeating the industry line that they’re falling way short