NEF in the news, June 2019

Money laundering, offshore ownership and London’s housing crisis
Hanna Wheatley spoke to Eamonn Holmes on talkRADIO about the murky world of property ownership.

Nurses being priced out of homes built on sold-off NHS land, study reveals
Our latest research on the fire sale of public land was covered in the Mirror and the Express.

A cross-Atlantic plan to break capital’s control
Our work was referenced in a Jacobin piece arguing that there is a growing collaboration between the Left in the US and the UK.

How plans for a shorter working week are taking the UK by storm
Aidan Harper spoke to Left Foot Forward about why plans for a shorter working week are on everyone’s lips.

Even Our Fish And Chips Matter In Tackling The Climate Crisis
Christiane Heisse wrote for Huffington Post on the need for climate effects of fishing to be included in sustainability labels. 

The UK should stop obsessing over GDP. Wellbeing is more telling
Daniel Button wrote for the Guardian about New Zealand’s move to measuring growth in a more nuanced way, arguing that Britain should follow its lead.

More than 5m people in Britain suffer low-paid, insecure work
NEF analysis for the Living Wage Foundation showing that one in six people are in low-paid, insecure forms of work was covered in the Guardian, the Financial Times and the Daily Mirror. 

The Nanny State
Emily Scurrah wrote a piece on the live-in nanny roles as an example of how feminised labour can be easily exploited in our current economic system in Tribune Magazine.

Theresa May’s carbon emissions plan will fail if the chancellor remains complacent
NEF CEO Miatta Fahnbulleh wrote a comment piece on the government’s pledge to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 for the Guardian. 

Who is really benefitting from the help-to-buy scheme? 
Hanna Wheatley was on BBC Radio London responding to a report from the National Audit Office showing that more than half of people who used the government’s help-to-buy loan scheme could already afford a home.

Tory Leadership, Grenfell tower, Watch Dogs: Legion, a broken economy and neoliberalism 
NEF CEO Miatta Fahnbulleh appeared on BBC 2 Politics Live with Jo Coburn, alongside Toby Young, Claire Cohen, and Aaron Bastani.

The power of central banks and the trouble with private debt 
NEF CEO Miatta Fahnbulleh appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week programme with Andrew Marr, alongside John Guy, Paul Tucker and Alice Tapper.

Is it time to end our fixation with GDP and growth?
Alfie Stirling was quoted in a Guardian article on the need to include more metrics, not just GDP, to measure success.

What can we learn from Berlin’s five-year rent freeze?
Hanna Wheatley responded to the news that Berlin’s government has approved a plan to freeze rents in the German capital for the next five years on BBC World Service.

Johnson, Hunt and Javid’s tax proposals would increase the number of families in poverty by at least 50,000
NEF’s modelling showing proposed tax cuts from Tory leadership hopefuls would increase inequality was covered in the Independent. 

Could Berlin-style rent controls work in the UK?
Hanna Wheatley was on Wake Up to Money discussing the government backed Berlin rent freeze and the role that rent controls, social housing and landlord regulations could play in fixing the housing crisis. 

We have one life. We can’t spend it all at work
Aidan Harper made the case for a four-day week on BBC Politics Live.

The new left economics: how a network of thinkers is transforming capitalism
NEF was mentioned as ​“a radical London thinktank that has acted as an incubator for many of the new movement’s members and ideas” in a Guardian long-read by Andy Beckett about the growing network of leftwing economists. 

How much do you need to earn to buy a home in the UK?
A new report from Zoopla finds that first-time buyers need an average income of £54,000 to buy a home in a UK city. Hanna Wheatley spoke to Julia Hartley-Brewer about the massive increase in house prices and lack of affordable homes being built.