The Economy 2030 Inquiry is a collaboration between the Resolution Foundation and the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The Inquiry’s subject matter is the nature, scale, and context for the economic change facing the UK during the 2020s. Its goal is not just to describe the change that Covid-19, Brexit, the Net Zero transition and technology will bring, but to help the country and its policy makers better understand and navigate it against a backdrop of low productivity and high inequality. To achieve these aims the Inquiry is leading a two-year national conversation on the future of the UK economy, bridging rigorous research, public involvement and concrete proposals. The work of the Inquiry will be brought together in a final report in 2023 that will set out a renewed economic strategy for the UK to enable the country to successfully navigate the decade ahead, with proposals to drive strong, sustainable and equitable growth, and significant improvements to people’s living standards and well-being.

This particular installment focuses on the low investment slump that the UK finds itself in. This century, the UK has consistently (in all but two years) been in the bottom 10% of countries in the OECD in terms of investment levels.  The majority of investment is by the private sector, but a substantial minority is public – around £1 in every £5 in the UK, slightly higher than the OECD average of about £1 in every £6 (16%). Public investment dominates in some critical sectors – from transport infrastructure to health. This briefing note considers the role public investment plays in the weak investment rut the UK finds itself in, what part it should play in the country escaping from that rut, and the challenges that must be confronted if it is to do so. It complements Economy 2030 Inquiry reports that will follow later in 2023 on business and human capital investment.