TGE director Mark Hepworth scoops "best blog" award for exploring the next economic wave

Mark Hepworth, co-founder and director of The Good Economy, has won the "best blog" in Pensions for Purpose's 2020 content awards.

Published during the UK's first lockdown in early June 2020, the blog used long-wave economic theory to show we could be on the cusp of the 6^th Kondratieff Wave of capitalist development – a 50-60 year future of growth and transformation brought about by healthcare and climate change innovations.

Karen Shackleton, founder and director of Pensions for Purpose, said: "This is our third year of celebrating excellence in content on our platform. With over 175 entries, there was some stiff competition and this reflects the strength of The Good Economy's blog submission. It is definitely worth a read."

Mark wrote: "Each Kondratieff cycle is hypothesised to have four seasons: Spring (boom), Summer (expansion), Autumn (stagnation) and Winter: 'Economy in the throes of a debilitating depression that tears the social fabric of society, as the gulf between the dwindling number of "haves" and the expanding number of "have-nots" increases dramatically.' Adherents of Kondratieff analysis say we are in the Winter phase of the 5^th Kondratieff."

While Mark described this Winter phase as a "depressing time of economic slow-down, entrenched social inequality, political instability and imminent ecological catastrophe", he also struck a more optimistic note.

In dedicating his award to the 1920s Russian economist Nicolai Kondratieff (the only known economist to die by firing squad), Mark said: “The 6^th Kondratieff wave is the first human-centred cycle driven by radical innovations that can more squarely and visibly benefit people and planet.

"Financial innovation is very much part of this watershed moment. It calls for long-term, responsible investment and hence I am delighted that a pension investment audience has recognised the relevance of this thinking.”

The judges praised the blog for its “extremely educational and original angle”. They said it was “making the case for sustainable investing and summing up how critical pension funds and particularly local authority pension funds could be”.

Another judge said that Mark’s blog offered "a refreshing angle compared with other Covid-19 related economic forecasts that he had seen through the course of the year".