Blog
Driving us round the bend: another fuel duty freeze
Fuel duty has been frozen for the 13th year in a row. When will the government abandon this regressive, environmentally damaging policy?

By
Alex Chapman
20 March 2023

The spring budget saw the chancellor freeze the rate of fuel duty for the 13th year running, a decision backed by both major parties. But the decision’s popularity with politicians does not reflect its popularity across civil society. The policy is widely regarded as economically inefficient and environmentally damaging.

Podcasts
New Economics Podcast: The right to roam
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Nadia Shaikh and Frances Northrop

By
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith
13 March 2023

On a sunny day in January, a ghostly figure covered in green ribbons appeared on a moor in south-west England. It was a person dressed as Old Crockern, the guardian spirit of Dartmoor. He was greeted by 3000 people who had gathered to protest a court ruling that took away the right to wild camp in the area. It was the biggest countryside access protest in living memory.
The ruling reignited

Blog
Three-fifths of private renters cannot afford the cost of living
The government must unfreeze housing support for private renters

By
Alex Diner, Sam Tims
10 March 2023

The cost of living crisis means that, for many families, affording the essentials — such as the rent or mortgage — is getting harder. While the headline inflation rate appears to have peaked, nearly everyone is being hit with huge rises to their housing costs. Social tenants face rent increases of 7% next year and 3m mortgaged households will see an

Blog
Talking Tax
Paul Hebden digs into where our attitudes towards taxes come from. He finds its roots in the runup to the 2008 financial crisis.

By
Paul Hebden
28 February 2023

This is an article from the fifth issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here.In the wake of the 2008 financial crash, an economic crisis incubated and caused by a reckless and out of control banking system transformed into a drive for full-blown public austerity. And we continue to witness the consequences of it today.
But Brits didn’t suddenly

Publications
Skills for a new economy
Investing in workers and closing the green skills gap

By
Alex Chapman, Fernanda Balata, Rebekah Diski, Paulo Yunda
28 February 2023

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Central to the net zero and levelling up challenges is the development of people’s education and skills. Jobs and skills are two sides of the same coin – you can’t solve one without addressing the other. Yet, the UK has a significant,

Publications
Austerity by stealth
The effects of inflation on public spending

By
Alfie Stirling, Dominic Caddick
27 February 2023

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Since 2010, the impact of austerity on public services has been devastating. Suppressed public sector pay has caused a crisis in recruitment and retention, leaving public services critically understaffed. Cutting corners on investment has left nine in ten schools in need of repair and a £10bn backlog of repairs in

Podcasts
New Economics Podcast: The UK’s political battlegrounds
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Anoosh Chakelian and James Meadway

By
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith
27 February 2023

Last year the UK had three different prime ministers, four different chancellors and five different housing ministers. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister for close to a decade, recently announced her resignation — and it’s not clear who will replace her. British politics now seems to be permanently tumultuous. And with a general election peeking over the horizon,

Blog
The race class narrative: building a new narrative
We’re looking down the barrel of a cold, difficult winter. But some politicians want us to think the biggest threat facing the UK is the ‘wokemob’.

By
Ayesha Baloch
20 February 2023

This is an article from the fifth issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here.
We are currently in the midst of the worst cost of living crisis of a generation, soaring energy bills, a climate crisis, a government that collapsed like a house of cards and moved onto the third prime minister

Publications
Beyond new build
Repurposing private rented housing to deliver a new generation of social homes for England

By
Alex Diner
14 February 2023

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England’s housing crisis, which has been simmering for years, has reached boiling point. Far from providing stable foundations on which to build our lives, our housing system has instead become a source of insecurity, hardship, anxiety and poor health for millions. Private renters face ever rising rents, an

Blog
Upgrading and repurposing private rented homes to create a new generation of social homes offers a clear path out of the housing crisis
The UK’s lack of social housing has caused a crisis of high rents and evictions. It’s time to develop a new generation of social homes.

By
Alex Diner
14 February 2023

England’s housing crisis has reached boiling point. Far from providing stable foundations on which we can build our lives, our housing system is a source of insecurity and hardship for millions. Soaring private rents

Blog
Together, they say yes
With abortion rights under threat in the US, Karen Hand of the Together for Yes campaign talks us through the lessons and the reasons for hope that came from the historic 2018 win on abortion in Ireland

By
Karen Hand
13 February 2023

This is an article from the fifth issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here.
In May 2018, the people of Ireland voted to overturn the Irish ban on abortion and introduce legislation around the termination of pregnancy. It was a landside referendum result, with 66%

Blog
Beyond outrage
When the government thinks it can win votes by thinking up ever more cruel ways to treat people trying to make the UK home, how do we fight back?

By
Nadia Hasan
06 February 2023

This is an article from the fifth issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here.
Anyone who cares about people being treated with humanity and respect will have been shaken by Priti Patel’s plan to deport people seeking safety here in the UK to Rwanda. It’s a dangerous and inhumane plan, and unfortunately it’s just the latest in a

Blog
We need universal basic services to tackle the climate crisis
Through universal basic services we can ensure everyone has what they need and deliver it in a way that reduces our emissions

By
Anna Coote
02 February 2023

Universal basic services (UBS) can play a crucial role in tackling the climate emergency, says a report out today from NEF and the Berlin-based Hot or Cool Institute. UBS deliver secure social foundations by making sure everyone has access to life’s essentials and promote equity by meeting everybody’s needs, regardless of

Blog
What is framing?
Progressives are used to presenting facts and compelling evidence, but finding that people don’t come running to support us. Why aren’t our messages cutting through?

By
Funmibi Ogunlesi
30 January 2023

This is an article from the fifth issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here.Republican communications strategist Frank Luntz wrote: ​“communication is functional, the people are the true end, language is just a tool to reach and teach them”.
And yet as people who want to communicate progressive

Blog
How I learned to stop worrying and love responsible borrowing
7 things you should know about government finances

By
Jeevun Sandher
23 January 2023

1. Responsible governments, like responsible businesses, borrow to keep things on track during hard times 
Governments and businesses should borrow to maintain their productive capacity during a downturn. Imagine a successful business: if sales temporarily fall, they don’t sack all the staff to get borrowing down. They borrow to get through hard times so they can continue to make sales when

Blog
Why carbon taxes should be spent on insulating the nation’s draughty homes
The UK is raising more money from carbon taxes than it is spending on tackling emissions – these funds should go towards insulating our draughty homes.

By
Margaret Welsh, Alex Chapman
17 January 2023

As temperatures last week plummeted and snow disrupted travel across the UK, millions of families could not afford to heat their homes. It was estimated that a fifth of low-income households were going without food and heating, at a time when icy

Blog
We can’t fix the NHS crisis until we fix our social care crisis
With 165,000 unfilled vacancies in social care, we urgently need to recruit people to work in the sector to resolve the crisis

By
Jeevun Sandher
13 January 2023

Right now ambulances are queueing outside hospitals, and people are dying waiting for them, because there aren’t enough beds to discharge patients into. This is, partly, another manifestation of our long-term social care crisis. There are 13,000 patients in hospitals that are ready to leave but cannot, due to a lack of

Publications
A care workforce fit for Britain
Spreading high-quality, well-paid care jobs nationwide

By
Jeevun Sandher, Daniel Button
13 January 2023

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Co-published with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.The UK’s social care system does not provide the care that people need. More than 1.8 million people have unmet care needs, one in four cannot undertake basic tasks such as washing and 8.8 million people, mostly women, provide unpaid care. The key reason

Blog
NEF’s 2022 reading list
A reading list of our most fascinating, interesting or insightful work from this year, for you to digest over the festive season

28 December 2022

With three prime ministers and four chancellors, this has been a busy year for NEF. We present a reading list of our most fascinating, interesting and insightful writing from 2022. From the cost of living scandal to the damaging legacy of right to buy, we hope you enjoy this selection of NEF’s work.
Best interest at heartBack in February, Frank Van Lerven reflected that the cost of public debt was lower than it had been for

Blog
Can words change the world?
How do you change the world? Are words enough? Or are they just the icing on the cake?

By
Sofie Jenkinson, Margaret Welsh
23 December 2022

How do you change the world? Are words enough? Or are they just the icing on the cake?
From ​“I have a dream” to ​“Ask not what your country can do for you” to Greta Thunberg’s ​“you are failing us” to Tony Blair’s ​“Education, education, education”, we know that words can change the world and have an impact for years to come. These speeches were hoping

Publications
The New Economics Zine: Issue 5
Can words change the world?

23 December 2022

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We’re really excited to share the fifth issue of the New Economics Zine with you. This issue takes a look at whether words can change the world – featuring articles from Dora Meade, Paul Hebden, Nadia Hasan, Katherine Hayhoe, Ayesha Balloch, and more.
Contents
Editorial: Can words change the world /​Sofie Jenkinson and Margaret WelshThe scene setter: Seizing the economic narrative /​Dora MeadeThe explainer: What is framing? /​Funmibi

Publications
NEF review of the year 2022
Highlights from the last 12 months

19 December 2022

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It’s been a difficult year for most of us, with bills skyrocketing, public services crumbling and the impacts of climate breakdown being felt across the world. We’ve been working hard in 2022 to highlight the inequalities in our economy and – even more importantly – to lead the way in advocating for a fairer, more prosperous and greener society. Now we’re delighted to share our Review of the Year where you can read about the

Blog
Making polluters pay
How the Emissions Trading Scheme should be harnessed to benefit people and climate

By
Alex Chapman
18 December 2022

The fossil fuel emergency is escalating, driving a cost of living scandal at home, and intensifying climate-driven loss and damage overseas. The UK has committed to the principle that the ​‘polluter pays’ for the environmental damage their activities cause. But the government’s spending on climate initiatives falls short of even the revenue collected from polluting businesses through its Emissions Trading

Blog
8 reasons to share the wealth
The richest few are taking too much – it’s time to share the wealth we all create.

By
Clifford Singer
15 December 2022

The richest few are taking too much, leaving the rest of us struggling to get by, starving our public services of funds, and depriving us of the tools we need to tackle climate breakdown. Here are eight reasons to rebalance the economy and share the wealth we all create.
1. While many of us struggle, top incomes have continued to soar
FTSE 100 CEOs earned 118 times median salaries in 2022.

Publications
The national living income
Guaranteeing a decent minimum income for all

By
Sam Tims, Alfie Stirling
12 December 2022

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The crises of the early 2020s, of the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Europe, brutally exposed the fragility of the UK social security system. But this fragility was a long time in the making. A decade of cuts, freezes, caps, and haphazard migration between systems left the UK with one of the weakest safety nets, both

Blog
The victim-blaming culture of housing associations has trickled down from the government
There are 940,000 homes in England with damp and mould. This government should take a healthy share of responsibility for this.

By
Heather Kennedy
30 November 2022

It was probably the same for lots of people. In the first few days following the reports, when the story of Awaab Ishak came onto the radio, I’m ashamed to say I turned it off. The death of the two-year-old from exposure to mould in his damp home was too sad, too horrible, too maddening to

Videos
The Cost of Living
The communities fighting back – a film by Greenpeace in partnership with the New Economics Foundation

22 November 2022

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Neglected by the government, and facing enormous energy bills, more and more people are relying on their community to help put food on their table and provide a warm refuge.
In collaboration with the New Economics Foundation, ​‘Cost of Living’ follows the stories of the women of Rother Valley as they try to support their communities during the cost of living crisis.
Energy companies

Blog
The environment is paying the price for bad economic advice
How second-rate economic analysis proliferates in the UK’s planning system

By
Alex Chapman
21 November 2022

Back in the 1940s US president Harry Truman bemoaned the tendency of economic consultants to provide inconclusive advice ​‘on the one hand’ and ​‘on the other hand’. Rather than face the complexities and uncertainties of modern economics, Truman asked his advisors to find him a ​‘one-handed’ economist.
In the UK in 2022, one-handed economists are widely available… for a

Blog
The UK is in a crisis of living standards, not public finances
The government isn’t fixing the public finances, it’s worsening the recession

By
Alfie Stirling, Dominic Caddick
16 November 2022

The country is once again in the jaws of recession. It’s likely to be longer and deeper than that faced by the rest of the G7 due to three particular economic failings here in the UK. This article discusses each of these failings , and presents new analysis of the effects of a fresh round of austerity on public services. We find

Podcasts
New Economics Podcast: How we win a new economy – changing the rules
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Jeevun Sandher and Ann Pettifor

By
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith
07 November 2022

Note to listeners: this episode was prerecorded in September 2022.
Over the last five episodes we’ve looked at how the UK is being torn apart. Our economy is built on huge inequalities: between working people and big business, between families and fossil fuel giants, between tenants and landlords, and between marginalised groups and law enforcement.
Are such