News & Insight

20 December 2012

Listening to most commentary about the British welfare state might leave you depressed, fearing that the legacy of Sir William Beveridge’s 1942 report is all but dead. But in spite of legitimate and troubling concerns, ‘follow the money ’ and...

14 December 2012

Much of the reaction to the chancellor’s decision to uprate most working age benefits and tax credits by just 1 per cent per annum for three years has focussed on questions of distribution. As the Resolution Foundation analysis demonstrated 60...

14 December 2012

Shortly after the Labour party conference in October, Ed Miliband gave a speech about a ‘one nation’ approach to mental health. He talked of mental health as a challenge that affects us all, no matter who we are. Given that one...

11 December 2012

The UK was hit particularly hard by the financial crisis, partly because it has a large financial sector relative to the size of the economy. The City is a great economic asset for Britain, but it is also a source...

10 December 2012

It is for each generation to make democratic choices about the welfare provision it wishes to pay for, albeit with the ‘path dependency’ of previous decisions, institutional arrangements and implicit promises. Nevertheless economists can make projections regarding the fiscal impact...

6 December 2012

In the 21st century, you might think that the way we live our lives would no longer be determined by anything as primal as the weather. So it might come as a surprise to be reminded that winter – or...