Britain has now been in recession for over a year. How can policymakers respond most effectively, on a global scale as well as nationally?

Shoppers face a complex and time-consuming task to get the best deal, depending on the store they buy food from and the item involved according to a new booklet 'Public behaviour in the UK in times of economic decline/rising food prices'.

Social science research is essential to tackling UK and global security challenges, getting to grips with reforming the financial markets and helping households adapt to climate change. This is the message from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as it publishes its Strategic Plan 2009-2014.

A drop in the value of some older people's savings and investments during the current economic crisis will worsen the financial difficulties already felt by many when their partner dies.

A fresh approach to public sector leadership is vital if the Scottish Government's vision of a more successful country is to realised - especially given challenges such as the current financial situation and a general loss of trust in leaders - according to a new report from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

The impact that wealth and social class has on people's well-being in old age is far greater than is often assumed. New research from the Economic and Social Research Council reveals just how great the difference really is in people's health and well-being between different social groups at older ages.

Is the recession an opportunity to move away from some traditional, and environmentally unfriendly, industries to cleaner, greener industries to create new and sustainable employment?

Over the past decade the growth in Business Schools has created a global market for well trained staff, who are already in short supply.

Third sector providers of social care services face a host of new challenges but also opportunities following the Government's commitment to expanding personal budgets in social care.

Of the six billion people sharing our planet, almost half live under the poverty line of $US2 per day. Though growth predictions vary it is likely that, by 2020, the population will increase by approximately another 1.2 billion, of which some 95 per cent will live in developing countries.

One positive development of the current global financial crisis could be the recent election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America, in the opinion of economist Prof Panicos Demetriades of the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) World Economy and Finance (WEF) Programme, who is today speaking at the 'Politics of Macro-Adjustment and Poverty Reduction Conference.

Assumptions that the United Kingdom will be able to remain a globally competitive, high-wage economy provided it has a sufficiently skilled workforce will be challenged at a seminar organised as part of the Economic and Social Research Council's forthcoming Festival of Social Science (6-15 March).

Following the latest call for proposals, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is pleased to announce overall funding of £16.5m over 5 years from 2009/10 to 2015/16 for three new Centres focusing on the economic wellbeing of the UK.

In the past 50 years individual levels of wealth have increased by but so have crime, deprivation, depression and addictions to alcohol and drugs.

In response to the recent international benchmarking review of UK economics, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is announcing a major new initiative in applied macroeconomics.