Last week, the big red briefcase was handed over to new Chancellor, Rishi Sunak. But many of Sunak’s Budget promises were overshadowed by new measures to deal with the coronavirus. With the stock market hitting a four-year low, the outbreak is pushing us towards recession. So what do we know about the government’s economic plans? Are they doing enough to avoid a recession? And in focusing on coronavirus, what other crises are they ignoring? In this special episode, recorded shortly after the Budget, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Alfie Stirling, NEF’s Head of Economics, and Carys Roberts, Executive Director of IPPR. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK’s only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Weekly Economics Podcast

The Budget, climate and coronavirus

The election is just around the corner and the outcome will determine the future of the country, and the shape of the economy. So what are the parties planning to do if they win power? How radical are their policies? And what are the differences in their economic agenda? For our last episode of 2019 Ayeisha is joined by Anoosh Chakelian, Britain Editor of the New Statesman and co-host of the excellent New Statesman podcast, and Miatta Fahnbulleh, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Election 2019

The childcare system in England is broken. Our nurseries are among the most expensive in the world, but our childcare professionals are some of the lowest paid workers in society. For a long time, government policy on childcare has been badly thought out and severely underfunded. More recently, big international chains have moved into the sector. So, what should be done? How would we fix the childcare system? And what would it mean for families, and for the country, if we finally got it right? This week Ayeisha is joined by Helen Penn, Visiting Professor at the UCL Institute of Education, Amy Martin, Creative Director of Impact Hub Birmingham, and Lucie Stephens, Head of Co-production at NEF. ALSO: Last chance to register to vote! Register by 11.59pm on Tuesday 26 November: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote Register if you haven’t got a fixed or permanent address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-to-vote-if-you-havent-got-a-fixed-or-permanent-address

How to fix the childcare system

Our public services are in dire need of investment. The question of how much investment has loomed large over the first weeks of the election campaign. But in the middle of a debate over competing spending plans, isn’t it also time to ask what we want our public services to actually do for us? That’s the view of group of economists and campaigners who are pushing for something called ‘Universal Basic Services’ – a radical expansion of high-quality public services for all to areas like transport, childcare and social care. More than 70 years after the creation of the welfare state and the NHS, is it time to reimagine the public services we should all expect? Ayeisha is joined by NEF Principal Fellow Anna Coote and openDemocracy Economics Editor Laurie Macfarlane.

Universal Basic Services

How did the word immigrant become such a loaded term? How did the public conversation about immigration become so toxic? And is there another way forward – an alternative to the hostile environment? This week we're at SOAS, part of the University of London, with a live audience and Maya Goodfellow, author of the new book, ‘Hostile Environment: How immigrants became scapegoats’. https://www.versobooks.com/books/3064-hostile-environment Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Hostile Environment: how immigrants became scapegoats

We're away this week recording our exciting live event with Maya Goodfellow for the podcast next week. In the meantime we're listening back to a live episode we recorded in April. Safiya Umoja Noble is an associate professor at UCLA and author of Algorithms of Oppression: How Algorithms Reinforce Racism. She joined Kirsty Styles for a revealing look at how all kinds of negative biases are embedded in the algorithms that increasingly shape our world. If you want to find out more about this topic, check out: Safiya Umoja Noble, Algorithms of Oppression nyupress.org/9781479837243/algo…hms-of-oppression/ Safiya Umoja Noble, Social Inequality Will not be Solved by an app www.wired.com/story/social-inequ…-solved-by-an-app/ Sarah Roberts, Behind the Screen yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300235…3/behind-screen Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/shos…1610395694/ Content warning: in this episode there is discussion of sexual content and pornography that some listeners might find offensive. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Algorithms of Oppression

Some common lines you’ll hear about the economy: we all put money in, or take it out. Some people pay their fair share, but others don’t. We can’t overspend – putting public spending on the national credit card would be irresponsible. But not all of those lines are strictly true and the way we talk about the economy affects the way we think about its future. This week on the podcast: what we’re really talking about when we talk about the economy. Ayeisha is joined by Anat Shenker-Osorio – communications expert, researcher and author of ‘Don’t Buy It: the trouble with talking nonsense about the economy’, and Ellie Mae O’Hagan – journalist and author of the forthcoming book on the collapse of the centre ground. Check out Anat's Brave New Words podcast at https://bravenewwordspod.com You can find the Framing the Economy report at https://neweconomics.org/2018/02/framing-the-economy-2 Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

The stories that broke the economy, and the stories that can fix it

It’s one of the most important inventions of the 20th century. But unlike the phone, the car, computers and indoor plumbing, the weekend is still stuck in the 1930s. As productivity increased, the promise of shorter working hours always seemed just out of reach. But now, there’s a campaign to make the 4-day week a reality within our lifetimes. Obviously many people would love to work less. But what would it mean for the economy? And what would it take to make it a reality? Back for a brand new series, Ayeisha is joined by Alfie Stirling, Head of Economics and Aidan Harper, Researcher at the New Economics Foundation. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

How to make the 4-day week happen

More and more of us are renting for longer – not by choice, but by necessity. In cities especially, more people are renting into their thirties, forties and beyond, sometimes raising children in rented flats with no long-term security. But what if we could do something about it? Could rent controls be the answer? With Hanna Wheatley and Eva Freeman. Donate to the New Economics Foundation: https://neweconomics.org/donate Rent controls report: https://neweconomics.org/2019/07/rent-control Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Chris Zabriskie and Podington Bear. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

The rent is too high

It’s the story we’re all told when we’re growing up. Work hard at school so you can get into a good university. Work hard at university so you can get a good job. Get a masters degree – taking on more student debt – if you really want to mark yourself out. Work hard at the office so you can get ahead. But what if that’s not the real story? Social mobility in the UK is stagnating. Class privilege is entrenched. Boris Johnson is the twentieth prime minister to go to Eton. What if the idea of Britain as a meritocracy is a myth? To answer this question, Ayeisha is joined by Jo Littler, a reader in sociology at City University of London and author of ‘Against Meritocracy’, and Sam Friedman, associate sociology professor at LSE and author of ‘The Class Ceiling: Why It Pays To Be Privileged’. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

The myth of meritocracy

This week the UK got a new prime minister, and the Conservative party got a new leader. After nine years in government, will this be a pivotal moment in history, or a last gasp? Apart from a more hard-line stance on Brexit and a few Winston Churchill statuettes, what will the new PM be bringing to the job? Ayeisha discusses Boris Johnson and the future of Conservatism with Christine Berry, co-author of the book ‘People Get Ready’ and former director of policy and government here at NEF, and Andy Beckett, features writer at the Guardian. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

The new PM and the future of Conservatism

If you’ve been listening to the Weekly Economics Podcast for a while, you’ll know that we think there’s much more to economics than GDP. But it still dominates the way politicians and much of the press talk about the economy. Now though, there are lots of new proposals for measuring what counts. So what should replace GDP? And how would it change society? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith discusses with Guardian economics correspondent Richard Partington and NEF fellow Annie Quick. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Mr. Frisby's Beat Pocket and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Is wellbeing the new GDP?

The polls show that while previous generations became more conservative with age, millennials are staying left wing for longer. And age and education now seem to be the big dividing line in our politics, replacing class as the key division. So what’s going on? And what are the political implications of Generation Left? That’s our big question on the Weekly Economics Podcast this week and to help us answer it, Ayeisha is joined by Keir Milburn, author of Generation Left, and lecturer in political economy and organisation at University of Leicester, and Shelly Asquith, a political advisor at Unite the Union. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Covox and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Generation Left

It’s been a busy year for the climate movement since last summer’s scorching heatwave. Extinction Rebellion shut down the streets, the school strikes saw thousands of young people take a stand, and the Green New Deal has shot to the top of the political agenda – for now, at least. Last month Parliament passed a motion to declare an ‘environment and climate change emergency’. Meanwhile, Theresa May is trying to use the last weeks of her premiership to build some sort of legacy, including a new target for net zero climate emissions by 2050. So, against that backdrop, what should the climate movement do next? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined this week by Hannah Martin from Greenpeace and Green New Deal UK. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

What should the climate movement do next?

Last month, the owner of a chain of British hi-fi shops did something unusual. Julian Richer, the founder of Richer Sounds, gave away control of the company to the employees, and even gave them each a £1,000 cash bonus for every year they’ve worked there. It’s a rare move for company owners to give up their wealth. Is this just generosity, or could it actually be good for business? And could it also be good economics, and even good for the planet? We’re back for a brand new series of the Weekly Economics Podcast and this week we’re getting excited about inclusive ownership. Ayeisha is joined by Marjorie Kelly, Executive Vice President and Senior Fellow of The Democracy Collaborative in the US, and Mathew Lawrence, director of the think tank Common Wealth and co-author of a NEF report about inclusive ownership funds. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by A. A. Aalto and Podington Bear The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Inclusive Ownership

Award-winning podcast about the economic forces shaping our world, with Ayeisha Thomas-Smith and guests. Brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the independent think tank and charity campaigning for a fairer, sustainable economy. New episodes on Mondays.

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Weekly Economics Podcast

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