Politics and Economics Panel

Head of Economics Mr Andrew Robertson led a group of sixth form Politics and Economics students to a panel discussion on Thursday 17 March on the government’s role in securing the future for the next generation. The event was hosted by the Charter School in North Dulwich.

Generation Z faces the biggest challenges humanity has ever seen. Climate change, pandemics, and emerging disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. The old challenges, such as the risk of nuclear war and economic disruptions, have not gone away. Meanwhile, economic inequalities widen and the future looks uncertain for many people, and for our society.

Throughout Brexit and the pandemic, we have seen government peacetime spending rise to over half the overall economy for the first time in history (under a political party keen on constraining government spend). What is the role of government in stabilising economies and in defending democracy and our social values in the face of major emerging threats to our society?

Students heard some impressive speakers: Lord Wood (previously Economic Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer); Vicky Pryce (prominent Economist, Author and Joint Head of the UK Government Economics Service); Miatta Fahnbulleh , Chief executive of the New Economics Foundation (NEF), and former economics adviser to government and opposition; Jeffrey Matsu, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

Here is what some of our students said:

"I thought it was insightful to see a discussion that took economic theory that we learn at school be applied to pressing issues that our generation needs to address in the future. It was refreshing to see that, although they agreed on issues like climate change, they challenged each others views and offered us different perspectives". Ella, Year 13

"It was great to see such high level economists of different viewpoints discuss and present different opinions of the same policies, and how the things that we learn in the classroom can relate to the real world". Flint, Year 12

"I found the talk insightful and thought the topics of discussion were very relevant to the current socio-economic issues. I also liked how each speaker had a different perspective on the issues talked about and weren’t afraid to challenge each other". Alice, Year 12

"I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to hear from a range of economists with different opinions. The speakers weren’t hesitant to challenge each other which made for an interesting debate". Emily, Year 12

Thank you to the speakers and to Charter School for a fascinating and illuminating evening.