Poor productivity, low investment levels and rising wealth inequality: One leading British think tank is offering £150,000 in prize money for radical ideas to address the UK's "toxic cocktail" of economic problems.
Image: Picture alliance/empics/A. Matthews
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Britain's economy has slowed since the June 2016 Brexit referendum, as companies focus on the potential risks of exiting the European Union as well as signs of a global economic decline amid rising trade tensions.
The competition isn't just open to economists — anyone can submit an idea. Winners will be announced next year, with total prize money of £150,000 (€169,279, $192,055) up for grabs. The think tank says the prize is likely the world's third-biggest in economics.
"We hope that by offering a substantial financial incentive to produce a plan that would deliver the best possible UK economy — one that protected the environment and delivered a good standard of living to people across the nations and regions of the UK — we will focus minds on solving the fundamental tension between rising living standards and decarbonization," IPPR Chief Economist Catherine Colebrook told DW.
Colebrook added it no longer made sense to consider economic objectives in a vacuum, separate from the question of how to live and produce sustainably.
Problems irrespective of Brexit
The economics prize is supported by Labour donor and pro-Brexit campaigner John Mills, who said the UK was facing a "toxic cocktail of issues that need fresh solutions."
"We're falling further behind every year — our productivity is poor, levels of investment are meager, and we cannot pay our way in the world."
"But even if Brexit were to be canceled tomorrow, those flaws would still present an issue for us; we certainly expect entries to go much further than formulating a defensive response to them."
Radical changes
The think tank emphasized that proposals would be accepted from all sectors of society and that each entry would be judged on merit and "not by the credentials of the person submitting it."
The challenge for participants in the competition will be to find ideas that could support a significant change "in the quality and quantity of the UK's economic growth," the IPPR said in a statement.
The final deadline for those detailed submissions is Apr. 14. The total prize money for the best suggestions will also include a dedicated under-25s prize to the tune of £25,000 as well as a runner-up award of £25,000.
The Great British car sell-off
In 1958, the UK was the second largest car maker in the world after the US, but by 2008 was twelfth. Many firms are now foreign-owned, including by BMW (Mini & Rolls-Royce), TATA (Jaguar & Land Rover) and VW (Bentley).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W.Hong
Aston Martin: Where two British icons meet
A manufacturer of luxury sports cars since 1913, Aston Martin became a fully-fledged icon with James Bond’s 1964 film "Goldfinger." Bond’s car, the DB5, is often seen as one of the most beautiful in the world and Astons have appeared in six other Bond films. It plans to float on the London Stock Exchange this year. Bankrupt seven times, the company is expected to be valued at around €4.3 billion.
Image: Imago/Cinema Publishers Collection
Jaguar: Still purring
Jaguar is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a multinational car manufacturer headquartered in Coventry and owned by Indian company Tata Motors since 2008. It was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922 and has manufactured cars for the British Prime Minister and also holds royal warrants from Queen Elizabeth II. Ford sold both Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors.
Image: Imago/Sebastian Geisler
Triumph: Not all about winning, but it helps
The Triumph TR6 is a sports car built between 1968 and 1976 with the US market in mind. Some 86,249 of the 94,619 cars built were exported to the US. The TR6 is often regarded with affection by its devotees as the last of the "hairy chested" British two-seat sports convertibles.
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Rolls-Royce: The 'best car in the world'
A survey in 1987 showed that only Coca-Cola was a more widely known brand than Rolls-Royce, a luxury car established in 1904. WWI saw the company branch into aero engines, where it still flourishes. Rolls-Royce faced troubled times after WWII and was nationalized until 1987 when the government sold it to the public. The new Rolls-Royce Phantom starts at about €400,000 ($400,000).
Image: DW
Morris Minor: Quintessentially English
The Morris Minor started production in 1948. Over 1.6 million were made between 1948 and 1972 in three series and it became the first British car to sell over one million units. Some consider it a classic example of automotive design and typifying "Englishness."
Image: picture-alliance/imageBROKER
Lotus: A thing of brutal beauty
Lotus Cars makes sports cars, including the Esprit, Elan, Europa, Elise, Exige and Evora. Based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a WWII airfield, Lotus builds light weight race and production automobiles. In 2017, Geely took a 51-percent controlling stake in Lotus and the remainder belongs to Etika Automotive. Ex-French Prime Minister Francois Fillon with a 1956 Lotus Elan above.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J.-F. Monier
Range Rover: A modern auto icon
The Land Rover Range Rover (known simply as a Range Rover) is a luxury sport utility vehicle made by Land Rover. The Range Rover was launched in 1970 by British Leyland and the model is now in its fourth generation. Above is the Range Rover Long Wheel Base Autobiographic Black trim model, of which only 25 Vallorie white editions exist in the US and go for $199,000 (€170,000).
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Morgan: Patience is a virtue
The Morgan Motor Company is a family-owned car manufacturer founded in 1910 and based in Malvern Link in Worcestershire. Employing 177 people, Morgan produces 1,300 cars per year, all by hand, with wood used in their construction for over a century. The waiting list to buy a Morgan is about six months and has been as long as ten years.
Image: picture-alliance/HIP/National Motor Museum
Land Rover: The Queen’s ride
Land Rover is a car brand that specializes in four-wheel-drive vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, which has been owned by India's Tata Motors since 2008. The Land Rover is another British icon and was granted a Royal Warrant by King George VI in 1951.
Image: Imago/CTK Photo
London Cab: Hail the master
'Hackney' is derived from the village name Hackney, a part of London. The word was once thought to be an anglicized derivative of French haquenée — a horse of medium size. The first documented hackney coach operated in London in 1621. The New York City colloquial terms "hack" (taxi or taxi-driver), hackstand (taxi stand), and hack license (taxi license) are probably derived from hackney carriage.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
MGB: Sports car personified
The MGB is a two-door sports car manufactured and marketed by the British Motor Corporation (BMC), later British Leyland, first made in 1962.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/H. Galuschka
Mini: Size isn’t everything
In 1999 the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Ford Model T and ahead of the Citroën DS and Volkswagen Beetle. The original is considered an icon of 1960s British popular culture and influenced a generation of car makers. BMW bought the Rover Group (formerly British Leyland) in 1994 and sold a majority of it in 2000.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Warmuth
Austin: An underrated classic
The Austin Motor Company Limited was a manufacturer of motor vehicles founded in 1905. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors Limited in the new holding company British Motor Corporation (BMC) Limited and the Austin name was used until 1987. The trademark is currently owned by SAIC after being transferred from bankrupt subsidiary Nanjing Automotive which acquired it with MG Rover Group in 2005.
Image: dapd
Bentley: Class on wheels
Bentley Motors Limited is a manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. It has been a subsidiary of Volkswagen since 1998. Headquartered in Crewe, the company was founded in 1919 in London and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, and 2003. Some are assembled at Volkswagen's Dresden factory. Still a signifier of sophistication.
