OECD 16 Mar 2011 165 pages
The UK economy emerged from the 2008-09 recession with elevated public and private debt and high unemployment. Strong growth and macroeconomic stability in the run-up to the crisis had hidden a build-up of significant imbalances, influenced by overreliance on debt-finance and the financial sector, and booming asset prices.
PDF: pdf MegaUp Mirror • | • pdf ES Download
DJVU: djvu MegaUp Mirror • | • djvu ES Download
The global financial crisis and the associated recession ended a 15-year period of continuous growth, rising employment and stable inflation. Significant imbalances had developed, however, in terms of public and external deficits, an excessively leveraged financial sector, high house prices and low household savings. The imbalances exacerbated the downturn during the global recession and contributed to a more pronounced fall in GDP, a larger fiscal deficit and higher inflation than in most of the OECD. A wide range of policies were introduced to support the economy and the financial sector, some of which are now being scaled back.
Table of contents
Executive summary
Assessment and recommendations
Chapter 1. Supporting the recovery and rebalancing the economy
Getting back to balance
Understanding the weaknesses of previous fiscal rules could help create a robust framework
Structural reforms should support growth and rebalancing
The UK banking sector was severely affected by the crisis and further reforms are essential
The domestic financial regulatory and supervisory framework needs to be strengthened further
Implementation issues and further reforms
Annex 1.A1. Progress in structural reform
Chapter 2. Improving the functioning of the housing market
Recent developments in the housing market
Improving the efficiency and resilience of the housing market
Chapter 3. Reforming education in England
International test scores suggest that educational outcomes have not improved
Better targeted pre-schooling can support social mobility and increase educational efficiency
Primary and secondary education in England, the United Kingdom and the OECD
Efficiency in primary and secondary education is low and has fallen
The extensive focus on grades in the school system is a cause of concern
More attention to composition and quality of inputs could improve outcomes
Inefficient deprivation funding leads to underachievement among disadvantaged students
Strong reliance on admission based on residency hampers user choice
Supply must be more flexible if substantial user choice is to be exercised
Participation in upper secondary education is low
Higher caps on tuition fees should provide room for increasing the number of study places
Annex 3.A1. Determinants of PISA scores
Annex 3.A2. Estimation of wellbeing determinants
Chapter 4. Climate-change policy in the United Kingdom
Rising to the climate challenge
Recent progress on emissions has been significant but a step change is needed
to achieve ambitious targets
Major policy instruments
Adaptation to climate change
Notes
Glossary
