Mike Brewer

@mikebrewerecon.bsky.social

5.4K followers 1.2K following 220 posts

Deputy Chief Executive Resolution Foundation & Visiting Prof in Practice at LSE Social Policy. 'Calm, Measured, Withering' http://tinyurl.com/y6wxlxhj). 'Cool, calm analysis' (More or Less, 8/10/25). He/him

Videos

Economics 26%

Political science 22%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Tim M. Blackburn, Peter Thorne, Ed Hawkins , and 10 more Tim M. Blackburn, Peter Thorne, Ed Hawkins, Steve Peers, Mike Brewer, Rebecca Williams, Tom Griffin, Glen O’Hara, Ian Butler, Gary Sheffield, Federica Genovese, Michael Larkin, Tim Leunig

Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 2d

🧵A political/media guide to the "truth" about net-zero

1) Add up costs to install & run a net-zero energy system
2) Pretend fossil-fuelled alternatives wld be free
3) Do say "eco zealots are bankrupting us"
4) Don't say "free cars if we scrap net-zero" cos it sounds ridiculous
5) That's it!

1/10

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 2d

🚨Major conference🚨

We're publishing a new book – combining analysis and policy work with in-depth conversations to understand the needs of lower income families – and hosting a major conference to discuss, with keynote speeches from Andy Burnham and Ken Murphy.

Register now➡️ buff.ly/2tG8LsY

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 6d

The Resolution Foundation is on substack!

Subscribe to make sure you don't miss further insights into our publications and the latest policy developments from staff at the Resolution Foundation.

Our most recent post is from @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social ⤵️ buff.ly/gVKQE4o

Who did we protect during the pandemic? And who fell through the cracks?
Resolution Foundation Chief Economist Mike Brewer reflects on how the economic interventions in response to the Covid pandemic impacted equality – and what we could do better next time

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 6d

This is a bad headline.
But I guess, ‘add 0.1% to total employment costs’ is less exciting.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Reposted by Mike Brewer, Katherine Brickell

Changing Realities @changingrealities.bsky.social · 7d

"As a mother, my heart swelled with pride. But as an advocate, I felt something even deeper: a reassuring reminder that this country still has space for compassion..." Why we [continue to] do this work, a blog by Beauty reflecting on a visit to No.10: www.changingrealities.org/blog/hope-at...

On December 18, 2025, I stepped through the iconic black door of No. 10 Downing Street, carrying more than just a diary appointment. I brought with me hope, memories, and the quiet weight of every family whose story has intertwined with the mission we pursue at Changing Realities.

www.changingrealities.org

Reposted by Will Jennings, Patrick Dunleavy, Mike Brewer , and 10 more Will Jennings, Patrick Dunleavy, Mike Brewer, Christopher McCabe, Steven French, Jonathan Wolff, Simon Wren‐Lewis, Holger Nehring, Margot C. Finn, Christina Ho, Oliver Mason, Michael Larkin, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 8d

I'm afraid there *is* an obvious answer: it can't.

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 22d

Brilliant column by @sarahoconnor.ft.com on the Employment Rights Act:

The good, the bad and the ugly of Britain’s labour market reforms

It’s the detail of the new Employment Rights Act that will matter — and the timing

www.ft.com

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 23d

V much enjoyed this.

How Jane Austen revealed the economic basis of society
economist.com/christmas-sp...
from The Economist

How Jane Austen revealed the economic basis of society

Some unacknowledged truths about money

economist.com

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Arkady Martine | Dr. AnnaLinden Weller @byzantienne.bsky.social · 24d

It's midwinter's eve tonight.

If you're quick about it, you can start your timed THE DARK IS RISING read-along before midnight.

(tonight's portion is Chapter 1, 'Midwinter's Eve'. Tomorrow is 'Midwinter Day' and 'The Sign-Seeker'.)

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Prof Ruth Patrick @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social · 25d

Yesterday, over 60 of us fr @changingrealities.bsky.social came together in @10dowingstreet.bsky.social for a reception at which the PM & @darrenpjones.bsky.social thanked us for our efforts to push for action on child poverty. Together, we can make change happen. But this is just the beginning.

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Nye Cominetti @nyecominetti.bsky.social · Dec 15

The reason we thought it worth writing is that I don't think this is obvious to everyone. And even if you know unemployment is rising, you might not know that it 'explains' *all of* the change in employment compared to pre-pandemic.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Mike Brewer , and 1 more Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Mike Brewer, Federica Genovese

Jane Green @profjanegreen.bsky.social · Dec 8

My parent’s local A&E doesn’t have pillows, time, beds, capacity. The GP doesn’t have emergency appointments for emergencies, services with capacity to refer people to.

Caring like this about nomenclature and pronouns seems to me a luxury pursuit, frankly.

Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · Dec 8

Susan Hall's condition has now reached the 'shouting at biscuits' stage.

Reposted by Stephen P. Jenkins

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Dec 5

NEW ANALYSIS: Today the Government announced its new Child Poverty Strategy. But what might it mean for the outlook for child poverty in this Parliament, and how does it compare to progress on reducing child poverty in recent decades?

New RF analysis answers these questions....

Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · Dec 5

The Government’s Child Poverty Strategy published today is the first we’ve seen for 11 years – which in itself is a sea change. 🧵 👇

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · Dec 5

Updating our projections for the latest data and forecasts from the OBR, we project that child poverty rates will fall to 31 per cent by 2029-30, 3.5 percentage points lower than would have been the case in the absence of policy changes …

Chart showing proportion of children living in relative poverty after housing costs, under different scenarios: UK

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · Dec 5

The Government’s Child Poverty Strategy published today is the first we’ve seen for 11 years – which in itself is a sea change. 🧵 👇

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Dec 5

This is all a bit of a shame, because the abolition of the two-child limit is a major deal for children in large families, and child poverty.

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Dec 5

This is a massive throwback to the first Blair government, and the "over 1 million children lifted out of poverty" claim (which was an example of the former statement). See ifs.org.uk/publications... for a discussion of that claim!

The government's child poverty target: how much progress has been made? | Institute for Fiscal Studies

Before the 2001 election the Treasury said that `tax and benefit reforms announced in this Parliament will lift over 1.2 million children out of relative poverty. But official figures released on 11…

ifs.org.uk

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Dec 5

Potential for confusion today over child poverty numbers. Govt statements are not super clear on what is "this is what policies have done to child poverty compared with the counter-factual" and "this is how much lower child poverty will be by end of Parliament than it is now".

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Dec 3

Debt at 40% lol

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Dec 1

Not that weird - it actually paid off! Very cheap to set up, and a good way to make some money on the very slim chance that it worked.

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Dec 1

In non-Budget news, last week I appeared at the UK Covid Inquiry , talking about how well (or not) the economic interventions had been designed with inequality in mind.

Here is a short write-up of my conclusions and recommendations.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/econom...

LinkedIn Pulse

www.linkedin.com

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Nov 30

Having been in the depths of COVID era policy recently for the Inquiry, a very striking theme was how moat people were aghast at how little money was available through social security when times were tough. Now imagine being a disabled lone parent...

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Nov 30

The article should really have said: "Look! We have a welfare state that gives you support if you are disabled and money to feed and clothe your children, and tries (not that hard, admittedly) to prevent you from being homeless".

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Nov 30

Another one of those crazy Telegraph articles this weekend which, for some unknown reason, compares a healthy DINKY to a disabled single parent with three children.

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Professor Peter Matthews @urbaneprofessor.bsky.social · Nov 29

And yet they've not managed to find the families of the half a million kids to be lifted out of poverty... 🤔

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · Nov 29

This Budget’s tax decisions will haunt the government on.ft.com/44xZOPB | opinion

This Budget’s tax decisions will haunt the government

The buffer Reeves built into her plans is admirable, but no guarantee of avoiding the nasty dilemmas to come

on.ft.com

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Nov 28

Old style Twitter is back, baby.

Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · Nov 28

A thread of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) that look like record covers... because that's EXACTLY what the world needs

1. Huey Lewis and the News: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Reposted by Mike Brewer, Ben Barr, Michelle Kelly‐Irving , and 10 more Mike Brewer, Ben Barr, Michelle Kelly‐Irving, Pierre Bataille, Nils Gustafsson, Joshua Goodman, Michael Pollard, Alessandro Nai, Todd Pugatch, Sebastian Karcher, Jens Rommel, Patrick Präg, Xavier Molénat

Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · Nov 28

A thread of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) that look like record covers... because that's EXACTLY what the world needs

1. Huey Lewis and the News: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Reposted by Mike Brewer

Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · Nov 26

"It will certainly take political courage to stick to these plans."

@ruthcurtice.bsky.social has everything you need to know about the Budget, in two minutes ⏰ ⤵️

Mike Brewer @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social · Nov 26

And highlights how pointless the speech is.

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