The UK budget is usually a story of growth forecasts, borrowing levels and fiscal discipline. But ahead of this month’s high-stakes event, growth has been slower than expected. At the same time, as households struggle with living costs, the climate crisis intensifies and inequality persists, growth might seem like too narrow a focus.
Conventional economics – with its reliance on GDP growth – cannot respond to the global “polycrisis”. This is the overlap between climate change, biodiversity loss, energy and food insecurity and extreme inequality – all amplified by geopolitical instability.
