This report from UK think tank the David Hume Institute explores the results of their quarterly survey data collected just after the Scottish Parliament election. The findings of the first Understanding Scotland Economy Tracker since the Scottish Parliament Election bring into focus the scale of the challenge facing the new MSPs. Despite growing confidence in...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities explores the geography of deprivation in urban Britain. Two-thirds of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK are in cities, even though cities and non-urban areas each account for roughly half of all neighbourhoods. Affluent neighbourhoods, by contrast, are split evenly between urban and non-urban areas.

This report from UK think tank the Centre for European Reform argues that China’s export-driven growth model poses a challenge to Germany’s manufacturing economy. Germany’s industrial model is under mounting pressure from a second China shock – and Berlin can no longer afford to wait for the problem to correct itself. A new study by...

This report from UK think tank Green Alliance sets out how the government can ensure young people are ready for the jobs of the 2030s. The UK’s green economy is set to grow rapidly, but young people aren’t being prepared for the careers it will create. Youth unemployment is at a ten year high and...

This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation sets out how the Government can reset Britain’s economic policy. This briefing note sets out how the Government can reset Britain’s economic policy following disastrous local election results, arguing that an honest assessment of where the country stands is the indispensable starting point for repairing its...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities shows that rising National Living Wage rates are having very different effects across UK cities and towns. A single national wage floor, combined with varying economic performance across UK cities, means that the impact of the minimum wage is felt very differently in different places. A...

This report from UK think tank IPPR calls for a new system of rent stabilisation to cap excessive increases, linked to whichever is lower: inflation or wage growth. 45 per cent of all private renters in the UK have unaffordable rents. It's time for the government to act to limit rent increases. In the UK...

This report from UK think tank IPPR explores how a well-designed intervention that caps energy prices can limit inflation and insure against the worst outcomes. The Iran war energy shock will impose significant costs on the UK economy, even if the government does not offer a universal support package. As it drives up inflation, we...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities looks at where city densification needs to occur and what policy needs to do differently. Policy attention towards densifying British cities is welcome, and this research uses data on historic neighbourhood age and Centre for Cities’ residential densities dataset to dig deeper into where densification needs...

This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation discusses the macroeconomic policy outlook in the second quarter of 2026. Since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran began nearly two months ago, global energy markets have been volatile. But the shock facing Britain has so far been smaller than that which followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:...

This report from UK think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs examines public understanding of British economic performance and attitudes to pro-growth policies. Most Britons (87%) want the UK to focus more on economic growth, and would back free market reforms to deliver it, including: reducing energy costs (77%), cutting taxes on workers (72%) and...

This report from UK think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs makes one of the twentieth century’s most important works of political philosophy available to a wider audience. F. A. Hayek (1899–1992) was one of the most important social thinkers of the last hundred years. Law, Legislation and Liberty (1973–79) is one of his most...

This report from UK think tank City-REDI finds that high-level skills mismatches differ significantly by area and that policy responses should reflect local differences in demand. This study maps employer demand for higher-level qualifications (at Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) Level 4 and above), the supply of residents with these qualifications, and the resulting demand-supply gaps...

This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation explores how childhood disadvantage depresses the earnings of university graduates in England. This briefing note examines how being in deep poverty in childhood – proxied by eligibility to free school meals at age 16 – continues to shape graduates’ earnings long after university. Using the Longitudinal...

This report from UK think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs Since the 2008 financial crisis, environmental policy has shifted away from simply managing negative externalities and gradually converged with regular industrial policy. Various ‘green deals’ have been launched around the world with the aim of achieving a combination of economic and environmental development. Economists,...

Ahead of the Spring Budget we asked a range of think tanks what would be the one thing they would focus on and include. Don't overcomplicate the cost of living response, just give people cash By Dr Aveek Bhattacharya (Social Market Foundation) In January, with inflation growing and the energy price cap set to rise,...

'Levelling up' has become one of the big agenda items for this government but how can it be helped by industrial strategy? Use the Spending Review and R&D Place Strategy to increase support for business innovation in lagging regions By James Blagden (Onward) In recent decades the UK’s regions have diverged so much that we...