Promoting the work of the City Region Economic and Development Institute (City REDI)
Welcome to the final monitor of 2020. The monitor was established at the start of the pandemic to look at the impacts as they unfolded and to bring together any available information from across partners. We had not envisaged at the start that this would still be needed thirty-nine weeks later. The WM REDI partners … Continue reading “West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 18th December 2020”
In this blog, Professor Anne Green discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions which have led to a marked reduction in international travel and immigration to the UK. It has also disrupted the collection of statistics on international travel and immigration. Across various indicators, there has been a reduction in immigration to the UK. … Continue reading “COVID-19 and the Impact on International Mobility and Migration”
This week, the first Covid-19 vaccination in the world was carried out in the West Midlands. Although there are signs of optimism following this, longer-term uncertainty over the Brexit deal continues. European equity futures have risen following stocks rising in much of Asia and the U.S. S&P 500 closed at an all-time high. In Washington, Treasury Secretary … Continue reading “West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 11th December 2020”
This week the national lockdown ended and areas have reverted back to tiers. The West Midlands is in tier 3, the highest tier with most restrictions. This is forcing the continued closure or reduced functioning of many businesses specifically in hospitality, tourism and retail. As Brexit draws closer businesses are raising more issues and concerns … Continue reading “West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 4th December 2020”
The State of the Region was published earlier this year. The report provides an in-depth look at West Midlands, it’s past performance, the impact of COVID-19 and Brexit and what the future might hold. The report was developed and supported by the WM REDI partnership to help deepen our knowledge and understanding of the region. … Continue reading “The West Midlands – State of the Region 2020”
Media engagements Research from Professor Raquel Ortega-Argiles and her UK in a Changing Europe team featured on the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC. Andrew Marr referred to modelling that (14:20 in) looks at the impact of Brexit on the car industry in the West Midlands. It was also mentioned on the FT as well. … Continue reading “City-REDI / WM REDI Round Up – November 2020”
This week the Chancellor announced the Spending Review, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its latest forecast and the Treasury has launched the new Green Book. The UK economy is expected to shrink by 11.3% this year – the largest fall in output for 300 years. Covid-19 will leave “long-term scarring” and the economy … Continue reading “West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 27th November 2020”
This week the development of vaccines is signalling a positive change, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s most recent forecasts, global growth is expected to be around 5.2% during 2021 based on the assumption that social distancing would gradually fade away as new Covid-19 vaccines are being developed. It’s worth noting that, following the … Continue reading “West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 20th November 2020”
This week we see cases continuing to rise and the adjustment to Lockdown 2. In terms of wellbeing, nationally, people are feeling the least satisfied with life since March, they are suffering the largest drop in how they feel about the things they do in their lives, anxiety levels are on the rise and happiness … Continue reading “West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 13th November 2020”
In this blog, Professor Raquel Ortega-Argiles discusses the importance of building economic resilience in places, what Birmingham strengths as a City-Region are, and what areas it needs to develop to become more resilient. This blog post has been produced to provide insight into the findings of the Birmingham Economic Review. The Birmingham Economic Review 2020 is … Continue reading “Building Resilience in Birmingham: Future Growth and Opportunities”
