Abstract
This study explores how narratives influence stakeholder actions and risk perceptions across cultural and organisational contexts. We examine UK budget statements from a span of 54 years, beginning from 1970 through to 2024. The results reveal a complex economic system where the Economic Growth narrative has significant downstream effects on the inflation economic indicator (CPI), and the employment consequences of the Monetary Policy narrative. The findings also highlight the possible stabilising effect of the Public Policy narrative, suggesting that policymakers should prioritise narrative aware communication while carefully weighing the tradeoffs between competing narratives. These findings highlight the necessity for designing policies with an understanding of narrative nuances, emphasising how policymakers could strengthen policy effectiveness by considering both expected outcomes and the prevailing narratives within the broader economic context. Consequently, it is essential for policymakers to consider both the natural deflationary effects that their decisions can generate, and discern which narratives have the potential to instigate both local and global disruptions.