The British Growth Crisis ― The Search for a New Model

Britain remains mired in the most severe and prolonged economic crisis that it has faced since the 1930s. The financial crash of 2007 brought British growth to a sharp halt, while the subsequent double-dip recession has eaten away at living standards and dampened future prospects. In such a context the question of growth has acquired a renewed urgency, taking centre stage within British politics. Britain's old growth model, based on asset price inflation in the housing market and cheap consumer credit, is now defunct. But, as yet, no credible alternative has been proposed. The old growth model is dying but a new one has yet to be born. The crisis has raised many questions about the future of British growth. Is the attempt to reduce deficits and lower debt the right strategy to foster long-term recovery? Can a new approach deliver growth that is socially and environmentally sustainable? And what can be done to ensure the benefits of growth are shared more evenly in the future? This important collection of essays by leading commentators seeks to provide some much-needed answers.

Jeremy Green is Research Fellow at the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute, University of Sheffield, UK, and Lecturer in Politics at the University of Bristol, UK. He has published in the European Journal of International Relations and Millennium Journal of International Studies.

Colin Hay is Professor of Political Sciences at Sciences Po, France, and Affiliate Professor of Political Analysis at the University of Sheffield, UK, where he co-founded the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute. He is the author of a number of books including, most recently, Civic Capitalism (with Anthony Payne, 2015), The Legacy of Thatcherism (with S. Farrall, 2014), The Failure of Anglo-Liberal Capitalism (2013) and The Political Economy of European Welfare Capitalism (with D. Wincott, 2012). He is lead editor of New Political Economy and founding co-editor of Comparative European Politics and British Politics.

Peter Taylor-Gooby is Professor of Social Policy at the University of Kent, UK, and holds a distinguished foreign expert chair at Beijing Normal University, China. He is author of a number of books including The Double Crisis of the Welfare State and What We Can Do About It (2013), New Paradigms in Public Policy (2012), Squaring the Spending Circle (2011), and Reframing Social Citizenship (2009). His current research is on the drivers of attitude change under recession.