New economic models Archives | Rethinking Poverty

New economic models

Banks vs the climate: ‘Who cares if Miami is six metres underwater in 100 years?’

By Lukasz Krebel

20 Jul 2022

Stuart Kirk, Global Head of Responsible Investment at HSBC Asset Management, last month asked investors: ​“Who cares if Miami is six metres underwater in 100 years?” His widely-reported comments demonstrate the...

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Employee ownership: Owning the workplace, securing the future

By Sean Benstead

19 Jul 2022

At the heart of the debate on community wealth building is a fundamental question about employee ownership and who or what holds the keys to wealth in our society....

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Housing co-ops could solve housing crisis in Canada

24 Jun 2022

The housing affordability crisis seems impossible to solve. Policies intended to help people priced out of the market often serve to fan the flames and increase costs. An example...

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The impact of Basic Income Month

By Rethinking Poverty

03 May 2022

Compass and the Basic Income Conversation have published their report Basic Income Month: The impact of London Solidarity Funds and the case for local basic income schemes. The Basic...

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Finding social value in Manchester through public procurement

27 Apr 2022

In its recently published Levelling Up White Paper, the government argued that the power of public procurement should be used to deliver support to communities and pledged to put... Read More

The 51%: Gender equality at the heart of a more inclusive economy

By Frances Jones

06 Apr 2022

What if gender equality was at the heart of local plans for a more inclusive economy? Efforts to rebuild and recover economic prosperity in a time of crisis often... Read More

Delivering universal basic services in Scotland

By Rethinking Poverty

16 Mar 2022

IPPR Scotland last week published their report Universal basic services: Building financial security in Scotland. Over a series of publications, IPPR Scotland has argued that in order to tackle... Read More

Community wealth building: making financial power work for local places

By Rachel Bentley

15 Mar 2022

Recent years have seen a growing number of local councils across the UK, including Birmingham, Sandwell and Wigan, as well as the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales adopting... Read More

‘Levelling up’ the UK is a golden opportunity for climate action – but the government is failing

By Jacob Ainscough

10 Mar 2022

Economists no longer talk of decarbonisation as a cost; climate action is now widely seen as an investment. Like any investment in new economic sectors, money spent is expected... Read More

Is degrowth – making less, but better – the future that the fashion world has been waiting for?

By The Alternative UK

09 Mar 2022

Fascinating article from the Vogue Business news site on the growing relevance of degrowth – producing and consuming less and less to mitigate climate meltdown – and fashion. It... Read More

Developing a shared framework for a hopeful future

By Hugh Eliis

03 Mar 2022

In November 2021, a group of ten people gathered together in Letchworth Garden City for two days of conversation. We began with a clear sense of our collective failure... Read More

Steps towards a better world

By Barry Knight

03 Mar 2022

Written at the outset of the pandemic, #BuildBackBetter showed how being forced to slow down had made people want a different future. Having a profound sense of vulnerability made... Read More

Democratic wellbeing: a new report from Carnegie UK

By Rethinking Poverty

21 Feb 2022

Carnegie UK published their report GDWe: A spotlight on democratic wellbeing last month. Gross Domestic Wellbeing (GDWe) is an alternative measure of social progress to the dominant measure GDP, as set... Read More

Plymouth Octopus is a cosmolocal CAN in action

By The Alternative UK

18 Feb 2022

As we know from long experience, Plymouth is a world-class powerhouse of social and civic enterprise – and it’s richly demonstrated in the Plymouth Octopus latest newsletter. POP (as... Read More

The brave: delivering community wealth in Scotland

By CLES

03 Feb 2022

At the close of the 2021 Community Wealth Building Summit, we reflect on remarks by our opening keynote speaker Tom Arthur MSP and the work that CLES has undertaken... Read More

Transforming markets: why markets need a makeover

By Barry Knight

13 Jan 2022

If Martians landed on Earth tomorrow, they would be surprised by many things, but they would be shocked by an economic system that allows a few billionaires to play... Read More

Earth, wind and fire – the just transition

By Rebekah Diski

07 Jan 2022

This is an article from the fourth issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here. Last month, over 500 workers at the GKN car factory... Read More

Community power campaign says We’re Right Here

04 Jan 2022

The politics of localism is shifting and developing, at all levels. We hear about a new national campaign being launched in the last few days. The We’re Right Here campaign is... Read More

A community wealth building energy transition

By Eleanor Radcliffe

28 Dec 2021

On the eve of COP26, and with the challenges we face in tackling the climate crisis becoming ever more apparent, CLES and Carbon Co-op today release a major new toolkit for councils,  a... Read More

You can’t achieve levelling up without a Green New Deal

By Miatta Fahnbulleh

16 Dec 2021

This is an article on levelling up and the Green New Deal from the fourth issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here. ‘Levelling up’... Read More

Doughnuts are popular in Devon

By The Alternative UK

14 Dec 2021

We have long seen Devon and the English South-West as a social, economic and cultural laboratory for what might look like an “ecological civilisation”. So it’s perfectly logical that... Read More

Resources for the metropolises of the 21st century

By Mariona Sanz

09 Dec 2021

UK Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) Chief Executive, Sarah Longlands, spoke last month at La Metròpoli Pròspera, organized by the Metropolitan Strategic Plan of Barcelona. Following her appearance... Read More

North Ayrshire and building community wealth

By The Alternative UK

11 Nov 2021

Some quietly achieved radical localism and community wealth building going on in North Ayrshire. While the Preston Model, and its underlying logic of community wealth building, have been lauded... Read More

Levelling up from the ground up

By Rose Grayston

28 Oct 2021

Depending on where you live in England, there can be huge differences in your quality of life. This is down to some areas’ economic decline and low incomes, but... Read More

Berlin and the community land trust

By The Alternative UK

21 Oct 2021

In this week’s German elections, Berliners voted with a resounding majority (56.4%), supporting a bill to expropriate 226,000 homes from private landlords, and take them into public ownership. It’s... Read More

Our Land: Liverpool Land Commission

By Isaac Stanley

07 Sep 2021

On the 6th July CLES launched the final report of the Liverpool City Region Land Commission: Our Land. Reflecting the findings of England’s first Commission to review the use of... Read More

Re-think power to build inclusive local economies

By Frances Jones & Eleanor Radcliffe

12 Aug 2021

Thirteen years ago, the global financial crisis prompted human suffering across the world. In the wake of this, community wealth building emerged as an alternative approach to local economic... Read More

Can community wealth building scale up?

By Caroline Hartnell

05 Aug 2021

Probably the key challenge for all those committed to progressive causes is how we scale up from the multitude of creative initiatives taking place locally. ‘At local level, we... Read More

The Bank of England’s new ​’net zero’ mandate could be a game changer

By Lukasz Krebel

05 Jul 2021

The Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee meets today, and will publish its first Monetary Policy Report since the Bank was given an updated ​‘net zero’ mandate at the... Read More

Local elections 2021: Ideas for new administrations

By Tom Lloyd Goodwin

29 Jun 2021

Economic recovery from COVID-19 will be a long and painful process. When the pandemic struck, we at CLES argued for a new common-sense approach to economic development based on the... Read More

The Case for Growing our Own Beans

By Anna Tervahartiala

22 Jun 2021

As the pandemic has stood the world on its head, one of the debates which has been thrown wide open is that of the future of the economy. PSJP... Read More

What does Covid-19 mean for the inclusive growth agenda?

By Charlotte Morgan and Luca Tiratelli

16 Jun 2021

What’s the role of inclusive growth in recovering from crisis? It’s easy to see as a ‘nice-to-have’, but can be at the centre of helping us build back better.... Read More

Rethinking Poverty: what needs to change?

By Barry Knight

09 Jun 2021

We have the ideas for change It is now more than three years since Rethinking Poverty began to compile resources to support the development of a good society without... Read More

Talking Points reflects on the 2021 local elections

By Rethinking Poverty

04 Jun 2021

The results of May’s 2021 local elections will have dismayed those who care about progressive causes, as showcased in Rethinking Poverty. But can we learn anything from them about... Read More

Basic Income in the US: is the Overton window open?

By Caroline Hartnell

28 May 2021

As outlined in March’s Talking Points, no-strings-attached direct cash payments are central to Biden’s stimulus package. While this is not Universal Basic Income (UBI), also known as Basic Income,... Read More

Cities must cut their ‘consumption emissions’ – here’s how

By Joe Blakey and Jana Wendler

29 Apr 2021

Almost every city now has some form of climate target. For instance Manchester, in northern England, aims to be zero carbon by 2038. But such targets generally focus on emissions... Read More

Caring for the earth, caring for each other

By Isaac Stanley

21 Apr 2021

During the peak of the first lockdown, people gathered on their doorsteps to clap for carers. Now it’s time to truly recognise their value. The inadequacies of England’s current... Read More

Powering social value through recovery

By David Burch

08 Apr 2021

On 11th March, we released our yearly analysis of the contribution that Manchester City Council’s procurement spend makes to the city’s economy and how it can support the achievement of wider... Read More

Basic Income: a feasible route to income security? 

By Malcolm Torry

31 Mar 2021

Lack of income security is widely recognised as a major problem – and one that has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Could a Basic Income help? And is... Read More

Valuable work

By Nadia Whittome

02 Mar 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on the discrepancy between the work we most urgently need as a society, and the work we value and reward. So many of... Read More

Gross Domestic Wellbeing: a more relevant measure than GDP?

By Gemma Lawrence

11 Feb 2021

Carnegie UK Trust last December published their report Gross Domestic Wellbeing (GDWe)™ An alternative measure of social progress, which proposes GDWe as ‘a more holistic and relevant’ measure of... Read More

Community ownership, recovery and empowerment

By Pippa Coutts

09 Feb 2021

I was lucky enough to chair a panel discussion on Community Ownership and Towns this week, with Community Land Scotland, Greener Kirkcaldy, Power to Change, The Stove Network.* We recognised, with many others, the High Street... Read More

The case for a four day week

By Anna Coote & Aidan Harper

28 Jan 2021

  Shorter working time should be at the heart of post-pandemic recovery. That’s the message of The Case for a Four Day Week, published by Polity this month, and written by... Read More

Driving community wealth and green jobs in Lewes

By Isaac Stanley

20 Jan 2021

Green New Deals aren’t just for cash-flushed central Governments. In the last year, Lewes DC in East Sussex has been growing its own distinctive variety of green economic strategy.... Read More

Making markets work for the common good

By Andrew Milner, Lisa Jordan and Stef van Dongen

30 Dec 2020

As the pandemic has stood the world on its head, one of the debates which has been thrown wide open is that of the future of the economy. PSJP... Read More

Degrowth: why we need a new political economy

By Caroline Hartnell

17 Dec 2020

Degrowth, or he end of growth is not the end of the world, says Parrique. ‘It can be the beginning of many worlds.’ … Basically, degrowth means a decline of... Read More

Wellbeing and GDP: explained

By Annie Quick

09 Dec 2020

This is an article from the second issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here “The goal and objective of all economic policy should be collective... Read More

Putting place at the heart of a green recovery

By Eleanor Radcliffe

03 Dec 2020

With fresh discussion this week about the importance of a green recovery, it is increasingly clear that post-Covid rebuilding must have a just transition away from a carbon-based economy... Read More

The five clear principles of community wealth-building

By The Alternative UK

26 Nov 2020

As we noted in our Editorial last week, the Biden presidency (assuming it kicks off eventually by Jan 30th) may have a worrying tendency to top-down policy direction. Which... Read More

How workers can take on big finance and win

By Alice Martin and Annie Quick

19 Nov 2020

The impact of Covid-19 has been a powerful reminder of the leverage workers could collectively hold. Care workers, supermarket cashiers and couriers – usually dismissed as ​“unskilled” – have demonstrated... Read More

Transformative Green Deal Politics

By Jon Bloomfield

29 Oct 2020

The urgency of the climate change challenge has been visibly growing, dramatically illustrated by the bush fires that swept across much of Australia at the end of 2019. The... Read More

A caring economy: why invest in one now?

By Caroline Hartnell

28 Oct 2020

What is a caring economy? And why invest in it now? ‘Building a caring economy’ was the topic of a New Economics Foundation (NEF) briefing, hosted jointly with the Women’s... Read More

From Coronavirus to Community Wealth – Building Back Better in Northern Ireland

By Neil McInroy, Joe Bilsborough & Charlie Fisher

14 Oct 2020

Just over a year ago, our organisations – the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and Development Trusts NI (DTNI) – jointly penned Time to build an inclusive local... Read More

Talking Points: September 2020

By Rethinking Poverty

07 Oct 2020

This month’s Talking Points picks up August’s discussions of the changing world of work and the knock-on effects on cities. It also looks at the inexorable rise of poverty... Read More

Universal Basic Income & Universal Basic Services: How can we bring them together?

By Isky Gordon

01 Oct 2020

Universal Basic Income (UBI) is not a new idea but has recently gained some credence, with interest in possible pilot studies shown by the Scottish national government and one... Read More

Doughnut economics: an idea for the development of cities?

By Caroline Hartnell

17 Sep 2020

Wikipedia describes the Doughnut, or Doughnut economics, as ‘a visual framework for sustainable development’, the name deriving from the shape of the diagram, ie a disc with a hole... Read More

Talking Points: August 2020  

By Rethinking Poverty

02 Sep 2020

Lockdown has seen huge changes in the world of work – most notably the rise of home working. With the furlough scheme coming to its end and the government... Read More

Economic recovery and reform: the role of community power

By Neil McInroy & Tom Lloyd Goodwin

09 Jun 2020

Long before the Covid-19 pandemic, our economy was failing many people and the planet. The imperative then was to create an economy that serves our needs, and shares wealth... Read More

A post-growth economy: thinking the unthinkable

By Caroline Hartnell

27 May 2020

Monday 11 May saw the launch of a new report from Positive Money called The Tragedy of Growth. That same day a webinar brought an audience of almost 900... Read More

Reducing inequality in Oxford: enter Covid-19

By Caroline Hartnell

20 May 2020

Almost a year ago, on 1 March 2019, I met with a group of people from Oxford – city council officials, an elected councillor and staff of social enterprise... Read More

Time for local economic development to muscle up

By Neil McInroy

18 May 2020

For some in the local economic development community there is talk of a post crisis “bounce back” – reflective of an idea that the economy is on a purely... Read More

Talking Points: April 2020

By Rethinking Poverty

06 May 2020

Life continues to be dominated by coronavirus. This month’s Talking Points focuses mainly on the all-important question of ‘what next?’ Has the market economy had its day? Will we... Read More

From many Yeses to one big Yes: towards a global Green New Deal

By Caroline Hartnell

29 Apr 2020

‘Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That,... Read More

Mid-Covid, Universal Basic Income now doesn’t look idealistic, but realistic

By The Alternative UK

24 Apr 2020

From our beginning, we’ve identified Universal Basic Income as a foundational policy for A/UK – as a way to ground active citizenship, encourage creative living, redistribute wealth and collectively... Read More

A minimum income guarantee – for now and forever

By Caroline Hartnell

22 Apr 2020

Last week, we covered New Economics Foundation’s (NEF’s) first weekly economics briefing which looked at how we can win the economic recovery after coronavirus. This week’s focused on ‘Fixing... Read More

A safety net for all

By Sarah Arnold

20 Apr 2020

The Minimum Income Guarantee would make sure no one falls through the gaps in our social security system. Yesterday the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed that nearly one... Read More

Can we win the recovery?

By Caroline Hartnell

15 Apr 2020

New Economics Foundation (NEF) will be holding Weekly Economics Briefings to discuss challenges the coronavirus crisis poses to progressives — from analysing policy decisions to highlighting the organising being done in... Read More

The time we’re owed

By Aidan Harper

29 Jan 2020

Are we ​‘owed’ more leisure time? We live in an economy which systematically extracts from us the time we have: in exchange for wages we give employers labour, effort, and... Read More

Talking Points looks back on 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

08 Jan 2020

2019 has been a tumultuous year. While poverty and inequality continued their inexorable rise, the climate crisis finally erupted on to the national agenda. At the same time solutions... Read More

The society we want: next steps for Rethinking Poverty

By Caroline Hartnell and Barry Knight

07 Jan 2020

What is the society we want? There is widespread agreement across the political spectrum that capitalism is in crisis and we need a new way of doing things. ‘Read the... Read More

Wales to trial ‘experimental’ Foundation Economy approach

By Thomas Barrett

20 Nov 2019

This article, by Thomas Barrett, was originally published on NewStart, a website for making places better. Subscribe for just £49 per year here. Wales will be the first country in the... Read More

CLES manifesto sets out how the next government can truly serve people, places and planet

19 Nov 2019

The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) has launched ‘The manifesto for local economies’, setting out a vision for ‘how the next government should create local economies that serve... Read More

NEF proposes three missions to transform our failing economy

15 Nov 2019

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has published a new report, New Rules for the Economy, which propose ‘three missions to transform our failing economy’. The report depicts the UK... Read More

Breaking From Tradition – Why We Must Embrace The National Performance Framework

By Anna Fowlie

13 Nov 2019

To coincide with the 10 year anniversary of the publication of the Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, the Carnegie UK Trust... Read More

How community businesses can help build an inclusive economy

22 Oct 2019

A new report from the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and Power to Change, Building an inclusive economy through community business, ‘explores how community businesses can support the... Read More

Our future depends on co-operation

By Ed Mayo

16 Oct 2019

It is a time of great distraction. Our plans to leave the European Union are burning, our government is fiddling with its leadership and, while it makes for news... Read More

Talking Points: September 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

09 Oct 2019

This month’s Talking Points looks at rising poverty and inequality and what can be done about it – from reforming Universal Credit to introducing UBS/UBI, taxing wealth more, and... Read More

How Community Wealth Building can help the Green New Deal

24 Sep 2019

Last month we announced the launch of Common Wealth’s Green New Deal project, a series of reports that will aim to serve as a ‘comprehensive road map for a... Read More

Report advocates shorter working hours for improved well-being

19 Sep 2019

A new report, How to achieve shorter working hours, commissioned by the Labour Party and written by Lord Skidelsky, was published last week. It argues that ‘a reduction in... Read More

CLES on climate emergency: ‘the time for action is now’

17 Sep 2019

The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) have published ‘CLES on… climate emergency’, the third piece in their new series of provocations. It argues that while movements such as... Read More

Talking Points: July/August 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

11 Sep 2019

This month’s Talking Points ranges widely from US companies’ new professed purpose of improving our society to a change of direction at Joseph Rowntree Foundation, ideas for transforming public... Read More

Publicly owned energy for a Green New Deal

05 Sep 2019

Common Wealth have recently published the report Why We Need Publicly Owned Energy for a Green New Deal. Written by Cat Hobbs, founder and director of We Own It,... Read More

CLES on achieving genuine progressive devolution

04 Sep 2019

The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) have launched a new series of provocations, ‘CLES on…’, drawing on their thirty years’ experience of ‘working to develop stronger local economics... Read More

Road Map to a Green New Deal: From Extraction to Stewardship

By Mathew Lawrence

03 Sep 2019

Executive summary Tinkering at the margins of an economic model driving environmental breakdown is guaranteed to deepen the climate emergency. To thrive, only a systemic response to a systems... Read More

Reflections on the Community Wealth Building Summit

By the CLES team

21 Aug 2019

Last week CLES hosted the second annual Community Wealth Building Summit, the only event like it in the UK and the largest event in CLES’ history. The 200-strong delegate... Read More

How CLES and Preston City Council ‘built community wealth in Preston’

24 Jul 2019

A new publication from the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) ‘tells the story of community wealth building (CWB) in Preston’, reflecting on eight years of collaboration. CLES set... Read More

A Network Of Hope?

By Dr Hugh Ellis

18 Jul 2019

It might not be immediately obvious why anyone would want to have a relationship with a planner let alone an organisation dedicated to promoting the values of a planning... Read More

Common Wealth launch a road map for Green New Deal

11 Jul 2019

The think-tank Common Wealth this week launched their Green New Deal project, a series of reports to be published over the coming months that will serve as a ‘comprehensive... Read More

Talking Points: June 2019 

By Rethinking Poverty

09 Jul 2019

This month’s Talking Points reflects on the causes of inequality and puts forward some suggestions for tackling poverty rather than just more ‘bad news’. We also look at the... Read More

Report sets out how to deliver inclusive growth for Scotland

08 Jul 2019

A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) sets out how productivity could deliver inclusive growth for Scotland. In 2015, the Scottish government launched a new... Read More

New think-tank dedicated to democratising ownership in face of climate crisis

27 Jun 2019

A new think-tank, Common Wealth, ‘dedicated to democratising ownership’, seeks to ‘rapidly and justly transform our economy in the face of climate breakdown’. The organisation sets out its ‘simple... Read More

Making the European project heroic again

By Pierre Calame

26 Jun 2019

The European Union has seen globalization in narrow economic terms as the creation of a single global market rather than the irreversible, interdependent relationships between the world’s societies and... Read More

‘Time to Build an Inclusive Local Economy’ in Northern Ireland

12 Jun 2019

A new charter, Time to Build an Inclusive Local Economy ‘sets out key steps to harness the power of communities to create resilient local economies’. Developed by Development Trusts... Read More

Land for the Many report seeks to change the way UK land is used

06 Jun 2019

This week saw the publication of a new independent report, Land for the Many: Changing the way our fundamental asset is used. Written by George Monbiot and six others... Read More

Back to school: some personal reflections on Losing Control and CTRLshift

By Mark Wilkinson

04 Jun 2019

In this blog, Mark Wilkinson, Losing Control advisory council member, reflects on the Losing Control conference in February, CTRLshift: an emergency summit for change in May, and the way community groups in towns and... Read More

Alternative Editorial: CTRLshifts into next gear

By Indra Adnan

30 May 2019

CTRLshift is all about ‘shifting control’ from national-level political parties and corporations to the people and organisations collaborating in towns, cities and regions – very much the agenda of... Read More

Reimagining the Economy: The Social Justice Enterprise

By Aaron Tanaka

23 May 2019

Editors’ note: In this article, Aaron Tanaka, director of the Center for Economic Democracy and cofounder of the Boston Ujima Project, envisions a new approach for economic development that is... Read More

Wellbeing: a guiding star for governments?

By Caroline Hartnell

21 May 2019

The devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all three put wellbeing at the heart of their approach – codifying their values and goals within wellbeing frameworks... Read More

CLES reports on New Municipalism in London

09 May 2019

CLES last month released a new publication, New Municipalism in London, which highlights ‘the actions of three London Boroughs who are seeking to challenge traditional local economic development and... Read More

Talking Points: April 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

01 May 2019

 The big development this month is the re-emergence of the Green New Deal in the UK, offering a way forward to address poverty, inequality and climate change. Also this... Read More

Eradicating poverty and tackling climate change are inextricably linked

By Caroline Hartnell

10 Apr 2019

I have been very aware for a while that Rethinking Poverty should be including climate change in its focus. But a gut feeling about the interconnectedness of everything isn’t... Read More

Creating a shared vision to reduce inequality in Oxford

By Caroline Hartnell

28 Mar 2019

On 1 March I met with a group of people from Oxford – city council officials, an elected councillor and staff of social enterprise Aspire Oxford – to talk... Read More

Compass sets out how we can achieve Basic Income for all

27 Mar 2019

Compass, with support from Friends Provident Foundation, have published a new report, Basic Income for All: From Desirability to Feasibility. Authored by Stewart Lansley and Howard Reed, it presents... Read More

Degrowth: A call for radical abundance

By Jason Hickel

19 Mar 2019

What do we need for a good society and a sustainable future? We need to de-enclose social goods and restore the commons, so that people can access the things they need... Read More

RSA Inclusive Growth Commission sets out vision for a new economy

13 Mar 2019

On 6 March, the RSA Inclusive Growth Commission published their new report Inclusive growth in action: Snapshots of a new economy. In the face of a British economy that... Read More

Derwenthorpe: can a successful community be planned?

By Steven Burkeman

12 Mar 2019

In 1901, Joseph Rowntree began creating what was to become the village of New Earswick, 2½ miles north of York. Today, New Earswick is a thriving mixed community of... Read More

Money and its uses

By Donald Burling

27 Feb 2019

Rethinking Poverty encourages its readers to contribute their thoughts so that we can all engage in developing the society we want. Here we publish an article by Donald Burling... Read More

Why we need an inclusive economy

By David Burch and Neil McInroy

20 Feb 2019

From time to time a new policy concept emerges, which seems to capture the mood and desire for a certain type of change. Today in economic development that phrase... Read More

Community wealth building – what is it all about?

By Caroline Hartnell

30 Jan 2019

What is community wealth building? On the one hand, it seems like a new idea. The Labour Party established its Community wealth building Unit less than a year ago,... Read More

Supporting local initiatives: the state we need

By Caroline Hartnell and Barry Knight

23 Jan 2019

Here, we follow up the article by Neal Lawson and Caroline Hartnell on ‘45 Degree Change’ and examine initiatives identified by Aditya Chakrabortty in a series of articles called... Read More

Powering a good society

By Barry Knight

03 Jan 2019

Last year was a bad year for anti-poverty campaigners. Poverty rose significantly and yet the government summarily dismissed reports from the UN and JRF. If we are to produce... Read More

Thoughts on a good society

By Katy Goldstraw

19 Dec 2018

Current discussion of a good society takes place in a period of profound global change, and there is no agreement about what a good society would look like. In... Read More

First phase of Kirklees wealth building complete

29 Nov 2018

Last week, we launched our series on ’45 Degree Change’ – the meeting point between the vertical state and horizontal emerging local initiatives. The work of local wealth building... Read More

45 Degree Change: where bottom up meets top down

By Neal Lawson and Caroline Hartnell

21 Nov 2018

We want to change the world.  Of course that means ending poverty and stopping climate change. The problem is, though, we really don’t know how to do it.  Two... Read More

Creating a new narrative for a good society – lessons from Letchworth

By Rethinking Poverty, Compass, TCPA, University of Hull, UCL

26 Sep 2018

What would a good society look like and how can we achieve it? As described in yesterday’s blog, a small group of people got together in Letchworth Garden City... Read More

What could planning contribute to a good society?

By Rethinking Poverty, Compass, TCPA, University of Hull, UCL

25 Sep 2018

A small group of people got together in Letchworth Garden City on 26 and 27 July. With UK politics in a worse state than perhaps ever before, the aim... Read More

Universal basic services – is this the answer to poverty?

By Caroline Hartnell

29 May 2018

‘Focusing on basic services, such as housing, food, communications and transport, is, we conclude, far more effective at driving down the cost of living than spending the same money... Read More

Universal Basic Income – not the answer to poverty

By Chris Goulden

11 May 2018

Universal basic income (UBI), or citizens’ basic income, is one of the ideas put forward in Barry Knight’s book Rethinking Poverty: What makes a good society? as a ‘promising area for... Read More

Rethinking Poverty: Towards the Webb Legacy – a summary

By Caroline Hartnell

24 Apr 2018

Barry Knight’s book Rethinking Poverty:What makes a good society? was published last September, eliciting a wide range of responses, published on the Rethinking Poverty blog. Barry’s new paper, summarised... Read More

Can Rachel Reeves’ ‘everyday economy’ replace the neoliberal consensus?

By Caroline Hartnell

29 Mar 2018

‘Since 1945 Britain has experienced two models of political economy,’ said Rachel Reeves, MP for Leeds West, launching her new pamphlet, The Everyday Economy, at The Trampery in London... Read More

Rethinking Poverty: Towards the Webb Legacy

By Barry Knight

07 Mar 2018

Purpose of this paper This paper has two goals. The first is to learn from reactions to the publication of Rethinking Poverty given during a wide range of public... Read More

Forging a Good Local Society

By Neil McInroy

27 Jul 2016

  For too long we have either turned a blind eye to poverty and disadvantage or hoped that a general rising tide of economic wealth would trickle down. The... Read More