​Project Spotlight: Rethinking Local Labour Markets and Under employment in the UK​

​In a new series of blogs, we will review City-REDI’s current and historical work. In the next blog, we will examine a paper published by Professor Donald Houston and colleagues. This report illuminates the persistent challenges of underemployment and workforce planning in the UK’s local labour markets. The research delves into the factors contributing to … Continue reading “​Project Spotlight: Rethinking Local Labour Markets and Under employment in the UK​”

Birmingham’s Economic Miracle – How can everyone benefit?

I recently spoke at the Lunar Society, attempting to discuss this topic, an “expert view”. In looking at addressing these questions I thought about a more provocation approach, but first breaking down the topics in the question: Has Birmingham experienced an economic Miracle? Do people benefit? How can they benefit? Watching the recent news, it … Continue reading “Birmingham’s Economic Miracle – How can everyone benefit?”

The Autumn Statement 2023: The Impacts

Alice Pugh looks at the impact of the Autumn Budget on households, businesses and public services. View Alice’s previous blog on this topic – Key Announcements Autumn Statement 2023 Household Impact  The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found that the changes to National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for employees and the self-employed, will only give … Continue reading “The Autumn Statement 2023: The Impacts”

West Midlands Economic Impact Monitor – 12 October 2023

In a week marked by escalating unrest in the Middle East, global leaders face critical decisions, raising concerns about the world economy. Amid rising international tensions, the global economy has shown unexpected resilience in early 2023, but growth prospects remain low. Although headline inflation is decreasing, core inflation persists due to the services sector and … Continue reading “West Midlands Economic Impact Monitor – 12 October 2023”

The LPIP Hub: What are Cities and What Role do They Play in our Social, Economic, and Environmental Systems?

Rebecca Riley recently attended an RSA Urban Futures Roundtable looking at the potential of the UK’s cities. In a series of blogs, Rebecca reflects on the challenges facing places in building regenerative economies. In the first blog, Rebecca asks what are cities and looks at the role they play in our social, economic, and environmental … Continue reading “The LPIP Hub: What are Cities and What Role do They Play in our Social, Economic, and Environmental Systems?”

Alternative Approaches to Local Economic Development: Perspectives from the West Midlands

Anne Green, David Waite and Richard Crisp discusses their new paper which compares the five leading agendas that have been positioned as alternative and progressive policy responses to urban economic change. Decades of traditional growth-oriented economic policies have failed to stem widening social inequalities and rising environmental challenges. This has triggered growing interest amongst policymakers … Continue reading “Alternative Approaches to Local Economic Development: Perspectives from the West Midlands”

1000 Not Out! The City-REDI Blog Hits 1000 Articles

Since setting up the blog in 2016, City-REDI has regularly posted about our research, current events, seminars, podcasts and videos. We’ve covered all manner of topics on the way to reaching 1000 blogs, from the economic impacts of Christmas to a play about the finances of Birmingham City Council. Over that time we’ve racked up … Continue reading “1000 Not Out! The City-REDI Blog Hits 1000 Articles”

How To Unlock Green and Place-Based Public Investment With the Help of HM Treasury’s Green Book and Systems Thinking in Economics

Professor Andrew Brown discusses the Green Book Review, how benefit-cost ratios continue to dominate appraisals, and how systems thinking in economics can act as an aid to implementing the Green Book Review. How should government ensure the ‘value for money’ of the public purse?  Recently Bec Riley and I ran a workshop on this question … Continue reading “How To Unlock Green and Place-Based Public Investment With the Help of HM Treasury’s Green Book and Systems Thinking in Economics”

Shedding Light on Productivity in the West Midlands

Rebecca Riley discusses a new report examining productivity in the West Midlands. The report is written by Melisa Wickham and is in collaboration with the West Midlands Combined Authority. This report focuses on labour productivity – which measures how much output is produced per unit of labour input. There are varying measures of labour input, … Continue reading “Shedding Light on Productivity in the West Midlands”

Too Many Demands are Being Placed on Universities To Support Their Regional Economies, Without Sufficient Support and Partnership

Dr James Davies discusses the pressures on Universities to support the Creative Industries, whilst themselves lacking sufficient support, industry partnerships and clarity of purpose. This blog was originally written for the Creative Industries, Policy and Data Centre. The creative industries have long been heralded as a UK success story. The creative economy grew at twice … Continue reading “Too Many Demands are Being Placed on Universities To Support Their Regional Economies, Without Sufficient Support and Partnership”