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Blogs and podcasts

Comment, analysis, and debate by CEP researchers on today's economic and social policy issues.

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How can UK policy-makers make homes more affordable?

Housing in the UK has become seriously unaffordable; the problem is likely to get worse and younger people are being hit the hardest. Christian Hilber discusses a number of policies that can help overcome the housing affordability crisis.
Time for a strategy to boost productivity in Manchester and beyond

The UK has a significant productivity problem and the poor performance of the nation's largest cities outside the capital contribute to this problem. Expert economists set out what change would be needed to set Greater Manchester on a plausible path for growth.

Latest Blogs and podcasts

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Autumn Statement: Positive reforms to boost business investment, but a holistic approach to the UK's growth problem is still lacking

The UK faces a productivity crisis and tackling this will be crucial to regaining sustainable increases in living standards. In response, the Autumn Statement announced a large number of measures to try and boost busines...Read more...

Anna Valero and John Van Reenen

23 November 2023

Blog
Project Syndicate:
What to do about Ukraine's brain drain

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 fuelled migration on a scale unseen since World War II, leaving 15 per cent of the population residing outside the country to this day. When Ukraine eventually gets the chanc...Read more...

Giacomo Anastasia and Tito Boeri

22 November 2023

Blog
Faster Please:
Economic growth and the environment don't have to be enemies

An incredible coincidence: Lots of folks who don't like innovative, entrepreneurial market-technocapitalism ... think the only way to tackle climate change is to abandon innovative, entrepreneurial market-technocapitalis...Read more...

John Van Reenen

21 November 2023

Blog
VoxDevTalks:
Renewable energy in low- and middle-income countries (Podcast)

The price of renewables has fallen much faster than other sources of energy, making it a more accessible option for governments in low- and middle-income countries. In this episode of VoxDevTalks, Mar Reguant and John Va...Read more...

Mar Reguant and John Van Reenen

21 November 2023

Blog
LSE Research for the World:
Using peoples' feelings of happiness to make better policy decisions

How we spend our time directly impacts how satisfied we are with our lives, and understanding the activities that bolster our wellbeing - and those that don't - can help policymakers make better decisions when allocating...Read more...

Christian Krekel

21 November 2023

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Joining multinationals' supply chains can benefit domestic firms' performance

Developing countries compete to attract multinationals to induce development. Becoming suppliers to multinationals could improve domestic firms' technology and managerial practices, and the host country's economy could b...Read more...

Alonso Alfaro-Urena, Isabela Manelici and Jose P Vasquez

21 November 2023

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Autumn Statement: Is the UK gearing up on policies for sustainable growth?

Growth will be a key focus of the forthcoming Autumn Statement, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer will deliver this Wednesday. Anna Valero, Esin Serin and Brendan Curran argue that effective measures to promote green...Read more...

Brendan Curran, Esin Serin and Anna Valero

20 November 2023

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Planning may be a political hot potato but radical reform cannot wait

Planning - largely because of the cruel growth in the unaffordability of housing - has risen up the political agenda. Reforms are urgently needed to allow more homes to be built, but change is notoriously difficult. Ahea...Read more...

Paul Cheshire

15 November 2023

Blog
LSE Business Review:
To improve performance and inclusion, firms must break silos between teams

Investment in diversity, equity and inclusion is critical to business performance and ability to compete, but the lack of meaningful change remains a barrier to progress. An often-overlooked pathway to change is to work ...Read more...

Teresa Almeida and Grace Lordan

14 November 2023

Blog
South-West Social Mobility Commission's Substack:
Fixing a broken tongue

Lee Elliot Major explains why the language we use in education is important to challenge the divides that scar the education system....Read more...

Lee Elliot Major

14 November 2023

Blog
Vox EU:
Unravelling the complexities of sanctions

Sanctions have become a linchpin of foreign policy. But as they have grown more complex, understanding their true impact on targeted economies has become increasingly difficult, and evidence of their firm-level effects i...Read more...

Javad Shamsi

14 November 2023

Blog
VoxTalks Economics:
AI's impact on jobs (Podcast)

By automating non-routine tasks, AI may have a profound effect on the jobs we do, and even whether those jobs exist. How much should we fear, and how much should we welcome this change? In the second of our podcasts from...Read more...

John Van Reenen

13 November 2023

Blog
Productivity Puzzles:
Why does the UK do so well on the Global Innovation Index? (Podcast)

How do we measure innovation and compare it across countries? And how can it be that the UK is doing so well as an innovation nation, while we seem to be underperforming on productivity?...Read more...

Anna Valero, Sacha Wunsch-Vincent and Bart van Ark

9 November 2023

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
More steps in the wrong direction on net zero, at precisely the wrong time

This week's King's Speech has paved the way for a further weakening of climate policy in the UK by introducing a bill to support future oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. Esin Serin and Anna Valero explain how this a...Read more...

Esin Serin and Anna Valero

8 November 2023

Blog
LSE Impact:
Get Happier - podcasting made simple

Discussing the launch of his new podcast series 'Get Happier', Paul Dolan argues for the underrated power of checklists and mnemonics and shows how they can be applied through the medium of podcasting....Read more...

Paul Dolan

7 November 2023

Blog
LSE EUROPP:
Interview with Neil Lee - "If we want to have innovative cities, they have to deliver for everyone"

In an interview with LSE Cities, Neil Lee discusses what's driving anti-metropolitan politics in Europe and how a more inclusive innovation economy could help address it....Read more...

Neil Lee

3 November 2023

Blog
What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth:
Blog series: Understanding core economic concepts in economic growth

This blog series, aimed primarily at those working in local and central government, provides deep-dives into various components of economic growth, and some key concepts that affect the impact of economic growth policies...Read more...

Henry G. Overman

2 November 2023

Blog
Hoover Institution:
Work from Home and Productivity - A Conversation with Nick Bloom (Podcast)

Steven Davis and Nick Bloom discuss the big shift to work from home, what it means for productivity, why perceptions in this regard often differ between managers and workers, and why - on balance - the big shift is a ble...Read more...

Nicholas Bloom and Steven J. Davis

2 November 2023

Blog
Economics Observatory:
How does compulsory school attendance affect youth violence?

Keeping young people in education can provide them with protection from crime as well as limiting opportunities for them to engage in criminal activities. But a policy of raising the age of compulsory attendance may also...Read more...

Matteo Sandi

1 November 2023

Blog
Economics Observatory:
Youth custody: who ends up there and how does it affect their later lives?

There are severe long-term consequences for young people in the UK who spend time in youth custody, the majority of whom are boys. Those with very low grades, in special education facilities and with additional education...Read more...

Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela

31 October 2023

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