Welcome to our new Progressive Economics website
In relation to:
Our launch!
First, a warm welcome to our new Progressive Economics Group (PEG) website. We hope that readers will find the site good to use, and proposals and discussions to be stimulating. The site has been developed and is “curated” by the team at Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME) comprising John Weeks, Ann Pettifor and myself, Jeremy Smith. Our thanks to our designer, Jordan Chatwin, who has worked hard in recent weeks to design the site and get it up and running for us.
The purpose of the new site is twofold.
First, to provide a forum for the offering and discussion of policy solutions to economic-related problems and issues, based on social democratic principles. Our main section on “policy briefs” provides this space.
The second purpose is to offer a place for you to put forward comments, critiques or ideas for further development in relation to policy briefs that have been posted (we have called this section “Commentary”). We have also received some reflections which we are posting, arising from the Labour Party’s June Manifesto proposals, which range wider than a specific policy brief.
You can read more on PEG and its origins in our “About” page. And if you wish to contribute, please do read our Guidelines carefully. We do hope that many readers will feel moved to contribute. This is what we ask in relation to the Commentary section:
“We intend this commentary section as the home for discussions of economic policy principles and proposals rather than political debate as such. For example, a policy brief on university funding reform might give rise to an entry on the commentary blog discussing the de-commercialization of tertiary education. The length of commentary contributions should also not exceed 1500 words….”
If you want to let us know what you think about the website, or to offer any ideas on the site or on possible content, you can write to us at
Jeremy.smith @ primeeconomics.org
Preparing policies for the next government
The present government is destructive and reactionary, but also incompetent – and not only in its handling of the Brexit process. Its continued mix of austerity and privatisation, with a hint of xenophobia added, is severely undermining Britain’s social fabric, day by day. The government is also internally incoherent and unstable – and may be brought down at any time by internal or external events.
It is therefore urgent and necessary that Labour and other political parties are ready for the next General Election with policy programmes that reflect the need for a new paradigm based on social justice, and aimed at radically regenerating and strengthening our social, economic and political system, in line with broad social democratic principles.
We hope that, together, our policy ideas and proposals, available to political parties and the world on this new website, can make some significant contribution towards meeting this critical challenge.
Jeremy Smith has since 2010 been co-director of Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME).