Economic growth in the UK has been sluggish ever since the global financial crisis. More recent large-scale disruptions caused by Brexit and Covid-19 have created additional challenges to growth and the vital public services, institutions, and fiscal measures that underpin it. Productivity and public investment remain low. Meanwhile, stalling wage growth and the cost-of-living crisis continue to eat into households’ disposable income, discouraging spending while also deepening economic inequalities.
What policies might underpin a new vision for prosperity – one that focuses not purely on growth but also ensures that economic gains are widely shared and environmentally sustainable?
What are the prospects for cities like Oxford in rising to these challenges? And how can a new economic strategy deliver a just transition at both local, national and UK-wide levels?
To discuss Britain’s future economic strategy, building on the analysis of The Economy 2030 Inquiry – a three-year collaboration between the Resolution Foundation and the LSE, funded by the Nuffield Foundation - moderator Clare Leaver, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, is joined by Gregory Thwaites, Research Director, Resolution Foundation and Associate Professor, University of Nottingham’s School of Economics, Richard Venables MRICS DL, Senior Director and Head of Oxford Office, CBRE, İrem Güçeri, Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government and Calum Miller, Senior Fellow of Practice in Public Management, Blavatnik School of Government.
The event is followed by a drinks reception at 19:00.
Greg Thwaites, Research Director, Resolution Foundation
Greg joined the Foundation as Research Director in September 2020. He also works part-time as an Associate Professor in the University of Nottingham’s School of Economics. Prior to this, he had been Head of International Research at the Bank of England, and worked for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and the Independent Commission on Banking (the ‘Vickers Commission’), inter alia. He received his PhD in economics from LSE under the supervision of Silvana Tenreyro. He has research interests in the macroeconomics of demographic and structural change, firm-level data, macroeconomic policy and inequality and distribution.
Richard Venables MRICS DL
Richard is head of the Oxford office for CBRE, global property advisor and has extensive experience advising on commercial property in the science and technology markets in Oxfordshire, having worked in the region for over 30 years. Richard dedicates considerable time and energy to economic and cultural development in Oxfordshire. He is Chair of the Employers sub-group of the Oxfordshire Inclusive Economic Partnership, Vice President of Oxford Civic Society and Vice Chair of the Oxford Economic Growth Steering Group and sits on the Oxford Strategic Partnership. He was board member of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (2014-2018). He has been a board member of Experience Oxfordshire (2009-2020), Oxfordshire Youth (2019-2022, where he is now an Ambassador) and Active Oxfordshire (2017-2022, where is now a Patron). Richard was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire (2016) and was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire (2018/19). Richard was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Oxford Brookes University in 2022 for services to economic development and community services.
