Illustration by Dom McKenzie / Ikon Images

How do you make a topic that is vital yet (for the non-economist population at least) intrinsically dull sound fun and interesting? Why, put a pun in the title, of course! Thus, the three episodes of the BBC’s new series on economic growth, timed to coincide with the Budget and its aftermath, have been creatively named “Growing Pains”, “Growth Potential” and “Growing Up”. The overarching series title is The Growth Conundrum – the conundrum being the dizzying list of prime ministers (from Gordon Brown to Liz Truss to Andy Burnham) who have promised to make growth their priority, juxtaposed with the UK’s two decades of stagnant GDP.

The veteran economics journalist Ben Chu takes the reins and guides us through territory that is both familiar and depressing. First, we examine why growth actually does matter if we want progress on living standards and populations that are both healthy and educated.…