The Rest Is Money 246. Why we need more businesses to go bust
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Jan 27, 2026 Ruth Curtice, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation and former Treasury official, explains why UK growth has lagged and what must change. She discusses low investment, the benefits of business turnover and rising insolvencies, the need to channel capital to younger firms, and policy moves on trade, housing and labour that could lift productivity.
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Two Decades Of Underinvestment Explains UK Lag
- The UK lags peers because of two decades of low investment and weak reform, says Ruth Curtice.
- Fixing productivity needs stability, reform for dynamism, and tax changes to support young firms.
Survival Of Unproductive Firms Harms Productivity
- Britain has many low‑productivity firms that survive instead of reallocating capital to more productive firms.
- Letting inefficient firms exit is necessary for higher wages and aggregate productivity growth.
Zombie Apocalypse Signals Necessary Restructuring
- Rising interest rates and cost pressures are causing more firm failures — a 'zombie apocalypse'.
- That destruction must be matched by new firm creation or unemployment will rise, warns Ruth Curtice.