Ending stagnation: How to boost prosperity across Scotland

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.

Scotland is in many ways a microcosm of this challenge. It has become a hub for creative industries, is home to several world-class universities and a thriving community of businesses – strengths that need to be harness and leveraged. But it also has high levels of deprivation, with homelessness reaching a record high and nearly half a million people living in very deep poverty last year. Scotland won’t be truly thriving unless it finds ways to ensure that all its inhabitants benefit from growth and investment. This is the central challenge facing policy makers both in Holyrood and Westminster.

What should a new national economic strategy for Scotland include? What would the pursuit of stronger economic growth mean for local, national and UK-wide policy makers? How will economic change affect the jobs we do, the places we live and the businesses we work for? And what are the prospects for cities like Glasgow, and nations like Scotland, in rising to these challenges?

The Resolution Foundation hosted this event with the Fraser Of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde 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 were joined by leading experts from policy, economics and business in the country to discuss how Scotland can secure widely shared prosperity.

Mairi Spowage - Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute
Patricia Findlay - Co-Chair of Scotland's Fair Work Convention
Anton Muscatelli - Principal of the University of Glasgow
Charlie McCurdy - Economist at the Resolution Foundation
Gavin Kelly - Chair of the Resolution Foundation (chair)