How do we measure economic progress?

In this episode, I chat with Senior Health Consultant, Abhishek Patel. We consider the costs and benefits of both private and public healthcare, the impact of the pandemic on the sector and how technology and artificial intelligence may share its future. Sit back and enjoy!

In this episode, I chat with the wonderfully talented IFS economist and former student, Elaine Drayton on education and social mobility. We discuss how one’s early life experience will determine their future economic prospects, the current UK climate for social mobility and how the pandemic has exacerbated educational inequalities. Sit back and enjoy!

In this episode I talk to Cambridge HSPS graduate and now Cabinet Executive Officer at Lewisham Council Ed Parker Humphreys on the topic of Universal Basic Income. We will explain what it is, identify some of the main arguments for and against its implementation, consider an alternative policy known as Universal Basic Services and finally, evaluate whether the coronavirus pandemic has changed the debate on these ideas. Enjoy!

This episode, I speak to former student and now journalist, Amy Borrett, on the future of work. We will look at how the labour market was changing before the pandemic, whether Artificial Intelligence will replace human labour, how coronavirus will change the way we work and new developments in the technology market. I hope you enjoy listening!

Over the next year, I will be inviting former students onto the podcast to discuss the most topical issues facing society. This episode, I speak to Shunta Takino (Junior Counsellor and Analyst at the OECD) on the topic of mental health and the economy. Shunta and I discuss the link between income and happiness, how mental ill-health impacts the economy and what governments can do to address this problem. I hope you enjoy it!

This episode starts with a brief history of globalisation going back to the Silk Road in the 1st century BC, and then considers some of the benefits and costs of the most recent wave of globalisation since World War II. It concludes by considering the impact that coronavirus may have on globalisation, with key consideration given to how governments around the world will react and the outcome of the US election in November.

An insight into racial economic inequality in the UK and the life and times of two hugely influential black economists: Sadie Alexander and Sir Arthur Lewis. Any comments please email [email protected].

Today, we discuss how the government can support the economy. This is an ongoing debate in the discipline, centred around the work of John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek. The debate is back alive once again following the current pandemic. The Conservative government are adopting an aggressive spending strategy to avoid a long term downturn but they face a major trade-off between reducing the recession and adding to government debt. If you have any points or questions, then please email me at [email protected]. Enjoy the show!

Welcome to the first episode of econ&me! Today, we discuss one of the most fundamental questions in Economics - how should we measure economic progress? In doing so we will look at the origins of GDP, some of its limitations as a measure of economic welfare and finally highlight the main efforts to develop an alternative method. If you have any thoughts or questions, do email me on [email protected].