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Escape from the Temple of Doom

  • Stuart Mackinnon. Carnegie UK
  • 15 August 2025
  • 3 minute read

The economic forecasts are grim. Trust in politics is low. Public services feel stretched to breaking point.

Is this the doom loop? A cycle of low expectations and limited ambitions. Not just a tepid bath of managed decline, but a deep unease about the country’s trajectory.

In a recent episode of The Rest Is Money, Robert Peston and Steph McGovern explored whether the UK is already in a debt trap where growth lags behind rising interest payments, leaving policymakers with few options beyond tax hikes or spending cuts.

The image that comes to mind is Indiana Jones sprinting ahead of the giant boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Except here, the boulder is national debt, and the escape route is not a hidden tunnel but a credible strategy to govern well.

This boulder has loomed large over successive Prime Ministers and Chancellors. The Truss mini-budget was an attempt to reroute it, although one that ended in disaster.

There is hope, though. Carnegie UK’s Financing the Future programme will publish new research this autumn, offering fresh ideas to align public finances with the challenges of our time. By combining expert insight with public sentiment, these papers aim to shift the conversation from constraint to possibility.

But something tells me that policy alone won’t help us escape the temple of doom.

Maybe we need leaders with the courage to challenge fatalism and the imagination to describe a better future.

With half an eye on elections in Scotland and Wales next year, it will be revealing to see which party leaders choose to paint a picture of the society we could be, rather than point out all of our troubles.

Ahead of these polls, we’ll be looking for opportunities to highlight positive options for the future rather than just dwell on the trouble we’re in.

That’s because our leaders, whether in government, civil society, or public institutions, have the power to change the story we tell about ourselves. They can choose to speak in the language of renewal rather than resignation.

Escaping the Temple of the Doom Loop will not be easy. But it starts with a simple idea.

Like Indiana, we have choices. One route leads to a better future, while another takes down a dark path.

And it is our leaders—political, business and civic—who must help us choose the right steps to take (avoiding the pit of snakes).

Feature image by Intricate Explorer on Unsplash