Productivity Commission Evidence Session on International Best Practice

The causes of, and solutions to, the woeful productivity performance of the UK economy since the Global Financial Crisis has been the subject of much analysis in the last 15 years.  Is it just the result of an economy maturing, or is there something more underlying? And, does this slower growth really have to mean a fall in living standards? With the UK investing less than advanced economies and its evolution to one that is dominated by service-based industries, this…

With rising wages helping to improve consumer confidence, will 2024 be a better year for the UK economy? As we enter an election year for the Westminster government, this event aims to highlight some of the main challenges – at both a national and regional level – which an incoming administration may face. Domestically, with the UK performing poorly against other G7 countries, there looks to be little prospect of significant economic growth. This poor productivity growth is compounded by…

Automation technologies are transforming work, society and the economy in the UK in ways comparable to the Industrial Revolution, with their adoption likely to significantly impact the future labour market.  Whilst there may be a productivity enhancement as new roles emerge, work patterns altered and new skills developed, it is likely that there will be a disproportionate effect on demographic groups in lower paid roles whose jobs can more easily be automated.  In short, like any evolution, it will not…

For our second Productivity Commission workshop exploring the theme of ‘investment’, Catherine Mann will be presenting a draft of her paper that explores some policy questions relating to UK investment. Catherine’s presentation will be  followed by questions and a discussion on how her draft paper may be amended before publication. This workshop is invite only.

This workshop, organised on behalf of the Productivity Commission, will explore the theme of ‘investment’. Paul Fisher, Chair of the London Bullion Market Association and formerly Deputy Head of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) at the Bank of England, will present a draft of his paper on ‘Considerations on Policies to Raise Productivity Through Investment.’ The presentation will be followed by questions and a discussion on how his draft paper may be amended before publication. This workshop is invite only.

As a medium-sized open economy, the UK depends more on trade and international investment than a number of other OECD advanced economies.  This Productivity Commission evidence session examines the role of international investment in raising productivity. Specifically, it explores the relationship between international investment and productivity growth, in particular recent trends in Foreign Direct Investment and the UK’s poor productivity performance. The session comprised our Commissioners questioning our three witnesses on topics such as sizing international investment, the make-up of…

Forecasting is central to macroeconomic policy making and risk management, and it is now routine to exploit data on a large number of variables to produce forecasts. In doing so, you can use a number of techniques, such as penalized regressions, principal components, neural networks, ensemble, Bayesian and other forecast averaging techniques. Yet, each method faces its own set of challenges. This lecture focuses on some of the pitfalls of the two most popular forecasting methods – penalized regressions and…

In December 2022 the Government announced a package of reforms aimed at driving growth and competitiveness in the financial services sector. Known as the ‘Edinburgh Reforms’, they comprise four main areas: a competitive marketplace promoting effective use of capital; sustainable finance; technology and innovation; and consumers and business. As part of our work on productivity, funded by The Productivity Institute, we held a one-day workshop to discuss the relationship between financial stability and growth in the UK. We explored the…