Prosperity and justice after the pandemic

Article

Covid-19 has exacerbated many of the existing challenges facing the UK economy - but it has also created an opportunity to ‘build back better’.

‘Building back better’ after the pandemic must mean creating an economy that delivers both prosperity and justice for all citizens. A new consensus on economic policy is beginning to emerge with the government embracing unprecedented stimulus measures during the crisis, but to really ‘build back better’ we will have to do much more than increase investment: we need to challenge damaging concentrations of power.

IPPR’s Centre for Economic Justice has identified four key power shifts that we believe policy makers should address.

  • Power needs to be shifted to employees and workers, from employers and shareholders.
  • Power needs to be shifted to companies that work in the interest of society from those that extract from society.
  • Power needs to shift to those who are locked out of wealth from a system that has locked up wealth.
  • Power needs to be shifted to the nations, regions, and towns of the UK from Whitehall.

Related items

  1. Newcastle street view of famous bridge and buildings

    The evolution of devolution: How the English devolution and community empowerment bill can go further

    The government’s early commitment to broadening and deepening devolution in England is very welcome, but the bill must be bold enough to make change that people can see and feel.
  2. A woman with long dark hair wearing a woolly hat puts her arm around her small son who is holding a teddybear. They're in a community centre in front of boxes of charitable donations

    Making the Child Poverty Strategy work for migrant families

    If we are serious about tackling child poverty, we cannot ignore the children of migrant families.
  3. Two young children run playing underneath a rainbow canopy in a park or garden

    It takes a village: Empowering families and communities to improve children's health

    How can we build the healthiest generation of children ever?