Podcast discussion
On the most recent episode of the Guardian’s Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty, economists Karel Williams and Sukhdev Johal criticised the long-standing political emphasis on boosting aggregate economic growth. They argued that decades of policy experiments — whether higher public spending, cuts, deregulation, Brexit or regional initiatives dubbed “levelling up” — have failed to raise growth per person in the UK.
Why growth politics disappoints
Williams and Johal, described on the programme as “rebel economists”, said the political promise that growth will automatically improve living standards is misleading. In the conversation they contend that treating growth as an article of faith has diverted attention from the material realities of towns and suburbs and from the institutions and services people rely on day to day.
Life after growth and policy implications
The guests examined what a post-growth approach might mean for local economies and public services, exploring how policy could be reoriented toward improving everyday life rather than chasing headline GDP numbers. The discussion touched on implications for regional policy and how to prioritise the foundational elements of local economies that sustain households and communities.
Further reading and context
Chakrabortty supplied a suggested reading list to accompany the episode, pointing listeners to his own columns on the economists’ work, a 2016 report from south Wales that examines present-day realities, broader analyses of UK inequality and stagnation, and work by the Foundational Economy Collective, with which Williams and Johal are associated.
The programme frames the debate as a challenge to mainstream political narratives about economic success, urging policymakers and voters to consider concrete standards of wellbeing and infrastructure rather than relying solely on growth statistics as the indicator of progress.