As the government prepares to unveil its Spending Reviewthis week, “growth” remains the political buzzword of the moment. But with the UK still struggling to regain economic momentum more than a decade after the financial crisis, are ministers pursuing the right kind of growth—and do they even understand what drives it?

In this episode, host Ben Walker is joined by Anna Leach (IoDChief Economist), and Daniel Susskind (Author of ‘Growth: A Reckoning’ (2024), ‘A World Without Work’ (2020) and Research Professor in Economics at King's College London), to explore what growth really means in today’s economy: why it matters, what’s holding the UK back, and whether our current model is fit for a future shaped by AI, automation, and global competition.

From the legacy of 2008 to the transatlantic growth gap, we unpack the forces shaping prosperity—and ask whether perpetual growth is even a realistic or desirable goal.