New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a socialist and environmentalist think tank and advocacy organization based in London, England. The Foundation promotes left-of-center climate change and economic policies, including universal basic income, taxpayer-funded and government-guaranteed transportation and housing, and the Green New Deal.

One of NEF’s missions is to create what it calls a “democratic economy,” with economic power held by “new city and regional authorities.” As part of this mission, NEF also calls for strengthening labor unions and worker cooperatives. ¹

Founding

New Economics Foundation was founded in 1986 by members of the Other Economic Summit (TOES), ² a meeting conducted in parallel with the 1984 London G7 meeting focused on pollution and the economy. ³

Mission

New Economics Foundation has three main missions. ⁴ The first is to create a “new social settlement” built on socialist principles to decrease economic privatization, reduce the length of the work week, and reject fiscal austerity. ⁵

NEF’s second mission is to advance a Green New Deal to cut carbon emissions. NEF states that climate changes causes “extreme weather” and “crop failure.” The Foundation claims to have been a part of the original group that proposed the Green New Deal in 2008. ⁶

NEF’s third mission is to create what it calls a “democratic economy,” with economic power held by “new city and regional authorities.” As part of this mission, NEF also calls for strengthening labor unions and worker cooperatives. ⁷

Activities

New Economic Foundation engages in policy research, supports local works and environmental projects, promotes grassroots activism, and offers environmental and social impact consultancy services. ⁸

As of August 2023, NEF engaged in eight separate campaigns: Homes for Us to build affordable housing; Living Income to create a taxpayer-funded universal basic income; Great Homes Upgrade to retrofit old homes to increase energy efficiency; Stop Airport Expansions to reduce carbon emissions by reducing aviation; National Energy Guarantee to provide a government sponsored baseline of free or cheap energy for every home; Share the Wealth to redistribute income from rich to poor; Universal Basic Services to provide government sponsored housing, transport, and internet for all; and Building a Wellbeing Economy to promote measuring economic success by quality-of-life improvements. ⁹

Previous NEF campaigns included efforts to reduce the length of the workweek, expand the United Kingdom’s socialized health care provision under the National Health Service to illegal immigrants, and prevent the sale of public land to private developers. ¹⁰

NEF also produces an array of research reports in line with its mission, including reports that outline the impact of the national energy guarantee, a report providing details on the national living income, and a report on a proposed green energy funding scheme. ¹¹

Partners

In 2015, New Economics Foundation joined the Green Economy Coalition, a left-of-center environmentalist advocacy organization founded in part by the European Union. ¹²

Funding

In the 2021 and 2022 fiscal year, New Economics Foundation received donations of over £5,000 from 38 foundations and societies. The largest of these donations were £173,981 (roughly $220,000) from the Oak Foundation,  a left-leaning environmentalist grantmaking foundation; £172,129 (roughly $218,000) from the Friends of Provident Foundation, a left-of-center grantmaking and investment fund promoting climate change activism, affirmative action, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) activism; £127,277 (roughly $161,000) from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, a Quaker grantmaking organization; £111,029 (roughly $141,000)  from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, one of the wealthiest grantmaking organizations in the world; and £102,835 (roughly $130,000) from the Smallwood Trust, a feminist grantmaking organization. ¹³

People

The chief executive of New Economics Foundation is Miatta Fahnbulleh. Fanbulleh was previously the director policy and research at the Institute of Public Policy Research, a left-wing, London-based think tank, as well as a staffer in Parliament. ¹⁴

1. “Democratic Economy.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/about/our-missions/green-new-deal.
2. “New Economics Foundation.” Green Economy Coalition. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/members/new-economics-foundation.
3. Robertson, James. “The Other Economic Summit: A People’s Agenda.” Living Economies Forum. August 12, 1991. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://davidkorten.org/peoples-agenda/.
4. “Our Missions.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/about/our-missions.
5. “New Social Settlement.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/about/our-missions/new-social-settlement
6. “Green New Deal.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/about/our-missions/green-new-deal.
7. “Democratic Economy.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/about/our-missions/green-new-deal.
8. “Our Work.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/about/our-work.
9. “Campaigns.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/section/campaigns.
10.  “Campaigns.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/section/campaigns.
11. “Publications.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/section/publications.
12. “New Economics Foundation.” Green Economy Coalition. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/members/new-economics-foundation.
13. “Who Funds Us.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/about/who-funds-us.
14. “Miatta Fahnbulleh.” New Economics Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://neweconomics.org/profile/miatta-fahnbulleh.