Setting a path to greater, shared prosperity: How the North East can help end economic stagnation

A toxic combination of 15 years of low growth, and four decades of high inequality, has left Britain poorer and falling behind its peers. Productivity growth is weak and public investment is low, while wages today are no higher than they were before the financial crisis. Britain needs a new economic strategy to lift itself out of stagnation.

This national picture is also reflected in cities across the North East. These cities have built on their industrial heritage to become hubs for economic development, with economic strengths in subsea technology, games development and medical science – helping to reduce its ‘jobs gap’ with the rest of the UK. But there are also high levels of deprivation and low levels of productivity, so the region won’t be truly thriving unless it finds ways to ensure that all its inhabitants benefit from growth and investment.

What should a new national economic strategy for Britain include? How will economic change affect the jobs we do, the places we live and the businesses we work for? What are the prospects for cities like Newcastle in rising to these daunting but reachable challenges? And how can we ensure that the benefits of thriving city centres reach other parts of the North East too?

The Resolution Foundation is hosting this event, in partnership with Insights North East, to debate Britain’s future economic strategy, building on the analysis of The Economy 2030 Inquiry – a three-year collaboration between the Resolution Foundation and the LSE, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. We will be joined by leading experts from policy and business in the region to discuss how different areas of the UK – particularly in the North East – can secure widely shared prosperity.

Speakers:
Beth Russell, Second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury
Abigail Pogson, Managing Director of The Glasshouse
Henri Murison, Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership
Cara Pacitti, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation
Torsten Bell, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation (Chair)