Five years ago, Liz Truss spoke at an SMF event on the benefits of competition in a market economy. Scott Corfe looks at how much has changed since then, arguing that "Trussonomics" must focus on making consumer markets more competitive - both to accelerate economic growth and tackle the cost of living crisis.

The SMF hosted a speech and discussion with Marcus Bokkerink, Chair of the CMA, on 28th February 2023. This is the speech in full, on the importance of competition, misconceptions about it, and on the implications for the CMA's work and for policymakers.

The careers support provided to young people and adults is far from perfect, argue Aveek Bhattachrya and Niamh O Regan. But a new Education Select Committee report, drawing on the Social Market Foundation's research, shows there is growing consensus on the way forward.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a stark divide between a public that was shut off from healthcare, whilst GPs and others found themselves severely overworked and under-appreciated - as highlighted by the response to James Kirkup's column in The Times. In this essay, Doug Russell sets out to answer two questions arising from the difference in responses: 1) why is there a rise in GPs working part-time? and 2) why is there 'under-doctoring' in areas of higher deprivation?

In this essay, Richard Disney analyses the economic incentives offered to GPs over where and how to work, and uses economic theory to propose improvements.

In our latest ESRC-sponsored Ask The Expert seminar, Dr Monica Poletti of Queen Mary, University of London and the ESRC Party Member Project, presented an in-depth analysis of Conservative party membership in 2017

A year on from COVID-19 being declared a worldwide pandemic, the UK has consistently placed high up in the global league tables of declared cases and deaths. But why has the health impact of the pandemic been so severe? What role have pre-existing health inequalities played? Our most recent Ask the Expert event, held in partnership with UK Research and Innovation sought to answer these questions, with our panel of experts Professor Vittal Katikireddi, the Health Foundation’s Dr Jennifer Dixon and the NHS Confederation’s Joan Saddler OBE.

Retail banks have been at the heart of the UK’s economic response to the coronavirus pandemic: supporting the nation to manage its money through the terrible personal and financial costs the disease has wreaked – from payment holidays through to bounce back loans. Now, banks have a new role to play. Not only in supporting economic recovery, but in ‘building back better’: resetting the balance between generating investor returns and serving community interests.

“I never make predictions, especially about the future”, the American sage Yogi Berra is reported to have said. If only the rest of us had such a luxury.