Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, opened Frontier’s BIG25 series with a keynote speech on a contested subject: is growth the right objective?

Our BIG25 event series celebrates 25 years of Frontier by inviting some of the UK’s leading experts to explore the fundamental challenges of today’s economies.

In his speech, Paul put forward the case for pursuing GDP growth. He argued it remains essential to improving living standards, funding public services and supporting social mobility. Paul also reflected on how weak growth since 2008 has shaped the UK’s fiscal and political challenges, and why necessary reforms are so often avoided.

Watch the full speech below.