DiscoverCurrent Affairs on Player FMWhy does the UK have a problem with productivity? - The Briefing Room
Why does the UK have a problem with productivity? - The Briefing Room

Why does the UK have a problem with productivity? - The Briefing Room

Update: 2025-11-13
Share

Description

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has been widely trailing this month’s budget and the difficult decisions she’ll have to make in just under two weeks time. This is being taken as code for tax rises and a possible break in Labour’s manifesto pledge with a rise in income tax. She’s said one of the key reasons for this is that the government's official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility or OBR, is going to lower its UK productivity growth forecast for the coming years. So why is UK productivity a problem and what can be done to improve it?

Guests:
Chris Giles, Economics Commentator, The Financial Times
Helen Miller, Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Duncan Weldon, economist and author
Greg Thwaites, Research Director, Resolution Foundation.

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Cordelia Hemming, Kirsteen Knight
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineers: Rod Farguhar and James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon

Comments 
In Channel
loading
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

Why does the UK have a problem with productivity? - The Briefing Room

Why does the UK have a problem with productivity? - The Briefing Room