Local Government and Its Captivity by National Electoral Interests

With the upcoming local elections in England, Dr Tasos Kitsos looks at the influence of distributive politics and the importance of local government to catalyse change where we live. With the local elections coming up in (some of) England, and our recent publication (with Dr Antonios Proestakis) on distributive politics in Greece, I wanted to … Continue reading “Local Government and Its Captivity by National Electoral Interests”

Economic Resilience: The Role of Industrial Structure

City-REDI has prepared this brief to inform the debate on economic resilience. It draws on resilience research at the Institute and elsewhere and is prepared under funding provided by the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/S011226/1). It discusses the concept of resilience in political discourse at the national level and then considers the importance of … Continue reading “Economic Resilience: The Role of Industrial Structure”

Economic Resilience: The Multi-Dimensional Role of Skills

City-REDI has prepared this brief to inform the debate on economic resilience. It draws on resilience research at the Institute and elsewhere and is prepared under funding provided by the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/S011226/1). It first discusses the concept of resilience in political and policy discourse at the national level and then considers … Continue reading “Economic Resilience: The Multi-Dimensional Role of Skills”

Pi is just a number…

Right? Maybe not. Not many numbers have their own symbol (π), appear on cool t-shirts, are trademarked or have their own movie (this one not this one) and their own day. OK there is “e-day” for Euler’s constant but hey, March 14 is Albert Einstein’s (physicist), Johan Strauss’ (composer of the Radetzky March and other … Continue reading “Pi is just a number…”

ESRC funding award: Researching resilience at the local level

In this blog, Tasos Kitsos launches his ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship on regional economic resilience. It is with great pleasure that I announce the launch of this ESRC fellowship. In 2008, a severe economic crisis hit economies around the world. Its effects included a significant loss of GDP and employment which led to several social ills … Continue reading “ESRC funding award: Researching resilience at the local level”

A parade of great research in the ‘Rio De Janeiro of the Northern Hemisphere’: Reflections from the Global Conference on Economic Geography 2018 in Cologne

Last month, a team from City-REDI attended the 2018 Global Conference on Economic Geography. In this blog, Dr Tasos Kitsos provides a summary of the conference along with details of his current work.  The 2018 Global Conference on Economic Geography took place in sunny and hot Cologne, the German Carnival capital, 24-28 July. The conference attracted … Continue reading “A parade of great research in the ‘Rio De Janeiro of the Northern Hemisphere’: Reflections from the Global Conference on Economic Geography 2018 in Cologne”

Lakes of Knowledge and Mountains of Expertise: A Roundup of the RSA Annual Conference 2018 in Lugano

In a beautiful setting on the shores of Lake Lugano and surrounded by mountains, more than 500 academics came together to attend the Regional Studies Association Annual Conference 2018 called “A World of Flows: Labour Mobility, Capital and Knowledge in an Age of Global Reversal and Regional Revival“. City-REDI was there with a team of … Continue reading “Lakes of Knowledge and Mountains of Expertise: A Roundup of the RSA Annual Conference 2018 in Lugano”

West Midlands socio-economic health check: Labour market

The middle of April has brought us the latest release of the Annual Population Survey. The survey is the most comprehensive socio-economic picture we have for a range of geographies from the national to the local level. In this blog, we will examine the information on labour markets for January to December 2017 and compare … Continue reading “West Midlands socio-economic health check: Labour market”

Fiscal devolution: An era of opportunity

City-REDI has prepared this brief to inform the debate on fiscal devolution. The UK has traditionally been a fiscally centralised system with most of the local authority income coming from government transfers. The acknowledgment of the importance of place and local leadership in policies such as the industrial strategy, devo deals and the budget, together … Continue reading “Fiscal devolution: An era of opportunity”

Twelve Economic Impacts of Christmas 2017

There are many types of Christmas. For some it is a special religious moment, for others, it is a time for families and friends and for many a time for consumption.  For many others, it is a critical time in their business activities – a time in which sales linked to Christmas determine profitability and … Continue reading “Twelve Economic Impacts of Christmas 2017”