Resolution Foundation

Change in the 2020s

Chapter Two of The Economy 2030 Interim report
Chapter two cover

Countries can go through phases of relative stability, but the UK in the 2020s will not be one of those countries. Drivers of change shared with other advanced economies, from demographics to the net zero transition, are combining with the UK-specific shock of Brexit and a far messier recovery from Covid-19 than most anticipated.

That is the context in which the badly needed attempt to renew the country’s path to economic success – including addressing the toxic combination of low growth and high inequality – must happen during the 2020s. But prevalent, and sometimes dominant, understandings of those changes – be they thinking about them through the lens of deindustrialisation or viewing either Brexit or the green transition as a silver bullet for the UK economy – do not provide a good guide for policy makers.

This chapter aims to do better, providing a study of the waves of change that have already broken over the UK economy, our judgement as to the types of impact they may bring, and a discussion of how the impact of these shocks – both positive and negative – should shape our thinking about the task facing the UK in the decade ahead.

Download a PDF of Chapter Two above, or explore the chapter below.

Chapter-two-interim-report


Return to Interim Report homepage | Read Chapter Three