Saturday 16 May, 11.45am until 12.45pm, The Great Hall The Battle for the Economy
This has been described as the ‘first financial crisis of the global age’, and all members of the G20 have conceded there have been ‘systemic failures in the financial services industry’. More popularly, banks are seen as being to blame for bringing on the crisis through risky investments in complex financial instruments. The ‘greedy banker’ as a personification of evil has been targeted by everyone from the Archbishop of York and Vince Cable (‘luckily the British have no guillotines in stock’) to activist vandals who attacked Fred Goodwin’s home, and ‘rioters’ who heaped abuse on city workers at the G20 protests. But are we in danger of stigmatising business success altogether, and endorsing the politics of envy?
Does demonising bankers mean fetishising the financial sector as the sole cause of our economic problems? If the problem is located solely in finance, inevitably the answer focuses mainly on that sector. But are the only solutions to today’s problems really ‘tougher global financial regulation’ and ‘a more robust financial architecture for the future’ to restore the credibility of banking? Is finance the core problem for economic growth, and is today’s solution of shuffling money around, even printing new money, really an answer to a deeper atrophy of economic activity in the West? Or should we see finance as just one part of a bigger picture demanding a more comprehensive response?
Listen to the session audio…
Other formats are available here
 | Daniel Ben-Ami finance and economics journalist; author Ferraris for All: in defence of economic progress and Cowardly Capitalism |
 | Nick Kochan financial journalist and economic analyst; co-author (with Hugh Pym), What Happened?: And Other Questions Everyone Is Asking About the Credit Crunch |
 | Michael Skapinker assistant editor of the Financial Times; FT columnist; editor, FT’s special reports |
 | Dr Tim Young visiting fellow, economics department, University of York; formerly, Trading Manager, Bank of England. |
| Chair: | |
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Stuart Simpson
financial services professional; researcher and writer, emerging economies and quantitative finance |
But these various policies—lightweight regulation, cheap money, the unwritten Chinese-American economic alliance, the promotion of homeownership—had something in common. Even though some are traditionally associated with Democrats and some with Republicans, they all benefited the financial sector.
Simon Johnson, The Atlantic, May 2009What can prevent the ‘immoral behaviour' that led to the economic crisis? More regulation? No, that's the last thing we need
Brian Griffiths, The Times, 9 April 2009Used to be, CNBC's financial guru Jim Cramer was simply regarded as a ridiculous joke. But, ever since he and Jon Stewart started trading blows, he's become more of a hilariously ridiculous joke.
TheInDecider, Indecision Forever, 10 March 2009
The key is to acknowledge that, in a world of adjustable currencies, international lending must be denominated in the currency of borrowers, not just in that of a few dominant advanced economies. Only by tackling imbalances in the international financial system is there a chance of global financial stability.
Martin Wolf, Yale University Press, 30 January 2009
Tax evasion, tax avoidance, money laundering: institutionalised crime is so much part of the global economy. Then there is moral crime...
Clive Dilnot, New Statesman, 4 December 2008"In a world which is becoming increasingly hostile to non-conformist positions the Battle of Ideas remains the flagship of free thinking."
John Cooper, leading barrister and writer
