Economy Insight

An AI generated short summary of the main points of the our Director's blog, originally published on 6 February 2026 on NIESR website: https://niesr.ac.uk/blog/how-should-we-pay-increased-defence-spending

In this episode Social Researcher Marley Williams is joined by three Community Researchers who have conducted interviews to people in receipt of Universal Credit (UC) and/or housing benefit as part of NIESR's UKRI funded Living Standard Review 2025, sharing their insights into the main issues of the current welfare system in the UK.

In this episode, Freya Thomas is joined by NIESR Associate Research Director Edoardo Masset to discuss the effectiveness of the so called 'WASH' interventions, and what next in the implementations of these important packages to try to reduce mortality in the countries analyzed.

In this episode, Freya Thomas is joined by NIESR Associate Economist Hailey Low, NIESR Senior Economist Ben Caswell, and NIESR Research Lead for Regional Modelling and Microsimulation Arnab Bhattacharjee. They discuss the economic inheritance of the new UK Government, and outline the main priorities for the economy as a new parliamentary cycle begins.

In this episode, Freya Thomas is joined by NIESR Deputy Director for Macroeconomic Modelling, Professor Stephen Millard. They discuss the recently published Bernanke Review on the Bank of England's forecasting processes, talk about what's next for Central Banks and the UK economy (including inflation and interest rates), and give a preview on what to expect from the forthcoming NIESR UK Outlook, t...

This podcast discusses the progress that has been made for women in economics and the barriers that still remain, proposing solutions to overcome these inequalities and inspire inclusion. In this episode, to mark International Women’s Day 2024, Freya Thomas is joined by NIESR Postdoctoral Research Associate Dr Margarida Bandeira Morais, NIESR Principal Economist Dr Larissa Marioni, NIESR Economist...

This podcast discusses migrant community organising in crisis situations, focusing on the case of Latin Americans in London during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode Luca Pieri is joined by NIESR Senior Social Researcher Dr Domiziana Turcatti and Associate Social Researcher Jasmin Rostron, and three leaders in the Latin American community in London: Ms Claudia Lopez, a Colombian English as Add...

The recent #AutumnStatement has been delivered against a backdrop of low economic growth, high inflation, and falling living standards for nearly half of the UK population. Luca Pieri is joined by NIESR Senior Economist Max Mosley to discuss the latest on the UK economy and analyse some of the measures announced in the recent Autumn Statement.

UK GDP is currently (2023 Q1) 0.5 per cent below the level of GDP before the pandemic. Our forecast does not have it passing this level until the third quarter of 2024. Luca Pieri is joined by Hailey Low to discuss the current state of the UK economy

Deputy Director for Social and Political Economy at NIESR Professor Adrian Pabst joins Luca Pieri for a health check up on how levelling up is faring in the UK. Are the current measures working and are the benefits being felt around the UK? Or is the regional divide becoming deeper still?

NIESR Associate Social Researcher Jasmin Rostron explains the findings from a research project analysing the experiences of older women in the labour market in Scotland - and outlines the role Older Workers can play in the UK Labour Market

NIESR Associate Economist Paula Bejarano Carbo goes through the latest figures for the UK GDP, and outlines the main challenges for the UK economy in 2023

Our Summer UK Economic Outlook, published in August 2021, suggest that – while headline growth and business optimism are strong – the recovery is not yet broad-based, being principally driven by the re-opening of a few sectors. Cyrille Lenoel, Principal Economist at NIESR, discusses the short-term outlook with Luca Pieri (Senior Communications Manager). You can read the Summer UK Outlook here: htt...

In this special post Election podcast, Jagjit Chadha talks with Garry Young and Arno Hantzsche about the policy decisions and fiscal plans that lay ahead for the new government.

NIESR's Director Jagjit Chadha talks with our Ana Rincon-Aznar and David Nguyen about some of the main regional disparities in the UK and what could be done to address them. This podcast is part of the 'NIESR Talks General Election 2019' series, aimed at better informing the public ahead of the General Election. We would like to thank the Nuffield Foundation for their support.

NIESR's Director Jagjit Chadha talks with our Stefan Speckesser and Elena Lisauskaite about what makes an effective education policy and which areas should the incoming government focuses on. This podcast is part of the 'NIESR Talks General Election 2019' series, aimed at better informing the public ahead of the General Election. We would like to thank the Nuffield Foundation for their support.

NIESR's Director Jagjit Chadha talks with Director of Macroeconomic Modelling & Forecasting Garry Young and Head of Global Themes Amit Kara about the effects of the Brexit vote on the UK economy and how the developments of the global economy might affect the UK. This podcast is part of the 'NIESR Talks General Election 2019' series, aimed at better informing the public ahead of the General Electio...

NIESR's Director Jagjit Chadha talks with Senior Economist Andrew Aitken and Senior Social Researcher Johnny Runge about the economics of Minimum Wages as part of our research to better inform the public ahead of the General Election. We would like to thank the Nuffield Foundation for their support.

At the margins of a recent conference organised by OMFIF and the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis , NIESR's Principal Economist Arno Hantzsche discussed short and long term risks and opportunities for the global economy with some of the speakers: Bart van Ark, Executive Vice-President and Chief Economist, The Conference Board Javier Perez, Director, Economic Developments Department, Banco de Españ...

NIESR's Associate Research Director Heather Rolfe talks to Paola Buonadonna about the findings in her evaluation of Growth Mindset interventions in English schools, published on 12/7/19

Paola Buonadonna discusses NIESR's most recent data releases with Senior Economist Arno Hantzsche. Three years after the vote to leave the EU and in the midst of a Brexit related Conservative Leadership election uncertainty still dominates,

Paola Buonadonna and senior NIESR economist Arno Hantzsche discuss what can be done to mitigate the immediate economic damage of a no-deal Brexit, You can find more information on NIESR's last quarterly forecasts before the UK is due to exit the EU on our website here: https://www.niesr.ac.uk/media/press-release-prospects-uk-economy-13637

Heather Rolfe and David Nguyen discuss the findings of NIESR's latest report on the effects of Brexit-related labour shortages in the UK health and social care sector. You can find the full report here https://www.niesr.ac.uk/publications/brexit-and-health-social-care-workforce-uk and Heather's blog here: https://www.niesr.ac.uk/blog/brexit-risks-putting-social-care-critical-list

As NIESR published its November 2018 Economic Review- an issue devoted to the Institute's 80th birthday - Paola Buonadonna talks to NIESR Research Director Peter Dolton about the changing trends in labour economics. Peter's article on the same theme is outside the paywall and available for all to read here: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/002795011824600112 Peter's blog explaining the...

Associate Research Director Heather Rolfe talks to Gary Gibbon, Political Editor of Channel 4 News about what role broadcast media plays in framing people's negative perceptions of immigration. They talked after the public launch of a new in-depth report by NIESR entitled "Post-Brexit Immigration Policy: Reconciling Public Perceptions with Economic Evidence", funded by the Leverhulme Trust. You ca...