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Revised figures on growth published yesterday should lead the Chancellor George Osborne to make his forthcoming Budget a budget for growth, according to a new collection of essays published by ippr, the Left Foot Forward blog, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

Tony Dolphin, ippr Senior Economist, said:

'Today’s figures are likely to show that growth is flat at best. The big issues facing the UK are an economy not operating at full capacity, with a lack of jobs and falling living standards. There is now just one month remaining for George Osborne to focus his Budget on stimulating growth.

'So far, the focus has been on taking short cuts to growth through spending cuts, cuts in corporation tax and cuts in regulation. But the lack of growth in the economy suggests this plan is not working. What’s needed is a ‘plan B’ that takes the high road to growth, with an active, strategic role for government in promoting investment, innovation and job creation. The economic recovery will not be led by the financial sector alone and there needs to be a much greater focus on regional development to support enterprise which creates jobs outside the capital.'

ippr will submit it’s ‘Plan B’ to the Treasury before the Budget.

On Monday (28 February), the think-tank publishes a collection of essays with the Left Foot Forward blog and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation from leading economic thinkers and commentators. Edited by ippr associate director Will Straw, Going for Growth includes contributions from:

• Gerry Holtham (Managing Partner of Cadwyn Capital) on the case for state-led enterprise as a means of driving up Britain’s historic investment problem
• Tony Dolphin (Senior Economist at ippr) on the new monetary and fiscal rules needed for future macroeconomic stability
• Anna Turley (Deputy Director at New Local Government Network) on the drivers of regional economic growth including Local Enterprise Partnerships
• Adam Lent (Director of Programmes at the RSA) on the industrial policy lessons provided by Attlee, Wilson and Thatcher
• Philippe Legrain (author of Aftershock and adviser to EU President Manuel Barroso) on the challenges created by the ‘rise of the rest’
• Charles Leadbeater (author of We-think) on new models of capitalism
• Stian Westlake (Head of Policy at NESTA) on how government can improve Britain’s innovation ecosystem
• Andy Westwood (Chief Executive of GuildHE) on skills and immigration
• Kitty Ussher (Director of Demos and former City Minister) on the consequences of the global financial crisis for the City
• Duncan Weldon (economist at an International Trade Union Confederation) on the long-term challenges facing the domestic economy
• Gustav Horn (Scientific Director of the Macroeconomic Policy Institute of the Hans Boeckler Stiftung) on what Britain can learn from Germany’s recovery
• Richard Seline (Principal of Regionnovate LLC) on what Britain can learn from the USA’s recovery.

Notes to editors

Going for Growth makes the case for:

• a strategy to increase Britain’s chronically low investment levels by taking advantage of the relatively lower cost of capital in the public and private sector
• a focus on skills to ensure that the best ideas are developed in the domestic economy and that Britain’s labour market is able to compete with the ‘rise of the rest’
• support for innovation that goes beyond a narrow focus on tax incentives
• devolution of policy levers so that incentives for economic activity exist at the appropriate level for businesses
• a rethinking of Britain’s monetary rules to recognise that macroeconomic stability requires more than just price stability.

Contact

Tim Finch, Director of Communications: 020 7470 6110 / 07595 920 899 / t.finch@ippr.org