Presentation by Resolution Foundation Chief Executive, Torsten Bell, at the final report conference for The Economy 2030 Inquiry.

The UK has great strengths, but is a decade and a half into a period of stagnation. The combination of slow growth and high inequality is proving toxic for low- and middle-income Britain. The result is a country falling behind its peers, where taxes, rather than wages, are rising, and living standards were under strain long before the cost of living crisis struck. The task facing the UK is to embark on a new path.

A new economic strategy for Britain must leverage rather than downplay its strengths, confront rather than ignore its weaknesses, face-up to rather than wish-away trade-offs, and align rather than silo agendas stretching from industrial policy to tax reform and the net zero transition.

Over the past three years, the Resolution Foundation has been collaborating with the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE on The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, to investigate, understand and confront these economic challenges. The project culminated in a major new book and conference – Ending Stagnation – where we set out and discussed Britain’s path to a fairer and more prosperous future.

Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/ending-stagnation/ 

View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/ending-stagnation/