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The initial report  of the Industrial Strategy Commission, chaired by Dame Kate Barker and supported by Sheffield and Manchester Universities, is a welcome first step towards…

Debate about the state of the economy was centre-stage in the 2015 election campaign, held there by the Tories’ four word mantra ‘long term economic plan’.…

Our research for the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) charts how local government finance is changing dramatically, and the consequences for local areas.* With a…

On the face of it the economy looks to be into a good recovery phase – growth at its highest since 2006, record employment levels and the public sector deficit under half what it…

The headline on today’s announcement from the water industry regulator Ofwat that water bills in England and Wales will fall by 5% in real terms between 2015 and 2020 looks…

The Autumn Statement performances today shows our political leaders on both sides should stop fixating reducing the deficit to zero. Today’s Autumn…

The Bank of England wants to take bonuses back off misbehaving bankers; corporate governance reform could mean abolishing bonuses altogether. The TUC’s…

If last year was the second worst for the UK’s balance of payments deficit since WW2, why doesn’t the Deputy Governor tell us when the worst was? In the bad old days, before Mrs…

The people at the very top of our large corporations: what guides the decisions they take and does it matter? The TUC’s new pamphlet on “corporate governance” is made up of…

Not only has there been a fall in young adult NEETS, the inactivity rate is at its lowest on record Official figures released by the ONS last month show that there are now just…

The employers’ organisation, the CBI, certainly thinks that the economy recovery which started some twelve months is a good one. In a press release put out last month, its Director…

How inflation is measured ought to be something that can safely be left to economists while the rest of us go down the pub. Sad to say, some of the detail behind the Autumn…

What does a period of sustained economic growth look like? Twenty years ago, the UK was in the early stages of a recovery that went on to become the best eight years for the UK…

George Osborne will certainly find next week’s Autumn Statement an easier ride than in 2011 or 2012. In the past two years, the opposition charge that his austerity had caused…

Thames Water’s request for a £29 increase in household bills to cover costs not included in the last price review has been rejected by the industry regulator Ofwat. The…

Five years ago on Sunday, the American investment bank, Lehman Brothers, was declared bankrupt. Here we take a quick look at some of the economic and social changes since 2008,…

Thames Water’s proposal to levy a £30 surcharge on its 14 million customers to help pay for the super sewer is an opportunity that no populist politician worth their salt would…

The big headline from the most recent labour market statistics was a rise in unemployment. At the same time, though, levels of inactivity have fallen to their lowest since the…

Over the last week, the NPI blog has been examining the merits of this April’s package of benefit reforms without relying on the fact that their adverse impacts are usually…