Time for Change: A New Vision for the British Economy

Article

The British economic model needs fundamental reform. It is no longer generating rising earnings for a majority of the population, and young people today are set to be poorer than their parents. Beneath its headline figures, the economy is suffering from deep and longstanding weaknesses, which make it unfit to face the challenges of the 2020s.

This Interim Report of the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice sets out the case for a new approach to economic policy. It argues that the economy we have is not inevitable, but the consequence of decisions made in recent decades. The economy exists to serve society, not the other way round. So we can choose to change it, if we have the ambition and determination to do so.

In this report, the Commission sets out its analysis of the UK’s economic problems, and proposes broad directions and areas for reform. The Commission’s final report in 2018 will make more detailed policy recommendations.


In the version of the report originally printed and published online there were a small number of errors and omissions, which have now been corrected. For information, an errata slip can be downloaded here.

Related items

  1. The Bank of England is watched over by a statue of the Duke of Wellington seated on his horse

    Fixing the leak: How to end the £22 billion annual taxpayer losses at the Bank of England

    The Bank of England increased its interest rates over recent years, aimed at reducing inflation. But this has also had an unintended effect on the Bank of England’s massive government bond buying – ‘quantitative easing’ – programme. 
  2. A two way street with busy traffic of driving cars and double-decker buses in autumn

    Fairer is faster: The route to greener and healthier domestic transport

    The government can speed up efforts to decarbonise transport by targeting the highest emitters.
  3. View of Bank of England, Royal Exchange, and Duke of Wellington equestrian statue (1844) with skyscrapers and construction in background.

    Navigating in the fog: Why the OBR should hold its nerve on the productivity forecast

    The fiscal watchdog is under pressure to downgrade its forecast, costing the chancellor billions – but this would be premature.