How did the UK go from economic confidence in the 1990s to stagnation and crisis today, and who should take responsibility?

That is the big question facing us and other Western economies.  The collapse in confidence and direction has many aspects but ultimately our political leaders must shoulder much of the blame.

Were the UK’s biggest economic failures honest mistakes, or avoidable policy blunders hiding in plain sight?

We allowed risks to build up unabated and then found ourselves in crisis mode.  There has been a lack of forward planning and long-term strategic thinking.

Globalisation was meant to make us richer. Why did it leave so many people behind in the UK?

Globalisation places a premium on high human capital skills – which the UK has in abundance but are not ubiquitous.  Those with skills that could be easily substituted for by overseas workers found themselves at a relative disadvantage and our vocational skills shortage offered jobs to many migrants from Europe, which squeezed public good provision.  

From crashes to austerity to inflation shocks, what single decision did the most long-term damage to UK incomes?

The unplanned and botched exit from the EU created years of uncertainty and stalled our recovery from the financial crisis.

Has short-term politics fatally undermined serious economic policymaking in Britain?

It is not necessarily fatal, but we need to move decisively away from political shenanigans being the dominant narrative on the UK and think hard and openly about how we are going to transform the economy over the next decade.   

If the UK is facing another turning point, what lessons from 1990–2024 can’t afford to be ignored again?

We desperately need the body politic to re-focus from daily headlines and the media, and instead on key aspects of our national transformation.  Let's be more boring and get on with the job of transforming the country rather than looking to manage public opinion.