The London Consensus Economic Principles for the 21st Century. A book talk with Andrés Velasco
Synopsis
A generation ago, the so-called Washington Consensus laid out a series of dos and don’ts for policymakers around the world. Today, that vision is recognised as having fallen short in a number of ways – particularly in its neglect of the social and institutional factors that are indispensable for achieving sustained growth and for building fairer and more cohesive societies.
The immense challenges humanity faces are easy to list: climate change, pandemics, social inequalities, the far-reaching effects of the tech revolution and AI, a fragmenting world economy, and a wave of populism and political polarisation that has undermined support for liberal democracy in many countries. It is much harder to identify a set of new ideas – and policies – that will solve these seemingly intractable global problems.
In this new world, political leaders and policymakers need guidance and principles that can assist when choosing among policy alternatives. To this end, the editors of this volume convened over 50 of the world’s leading economists and policy experts at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The London Consensus: Economic Principles for the 21st Century is the result of these exchanges. It is not intended as a one-size-fits-all set of economic remedies, but an exercise in assembling the best available evidence and ideas to foster dialogue, and ultimately to develop a set of principles that can address the urgent political, social and economic tasks ahead.
For more on the London Consensus project, see: https://www.lse.ac.uk/school-of-public-policy/Research/London-Consensus
Speaker's bio
Andrés Velasco is the Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. A distinguished economist and former policymaker, he previously served as the Minister of Finance of Chile from 2006 to 2010. During his tenure, he was widely acclaimed for his prudent fiscal policy, notably the creation of a globally recognized rainy-day fund with Chile’s copper windfall. This work earned him the title of Latin American Finance Minister of the Year from several international publications. In 2013, he was a candidate for the presidency of Chile.
Professor Velasco has held numerous high-level international appointments, including membership on the G20 Eminent Persons Group and the Global Oceans Commission. His prominent academic career includes professorships at Harvard's Kennedy School and Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University, graduate and undergraduate degrees from Yale University, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard and MIT.
Moderator's bio
Jeffry Frieden is Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science at Columbia University. He specializes in the politics of international economic relations. Frieden is the author of Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century (2007; second updated edition 2020). Frieden is also the author of Debt, Development, and Democracy: Modern Political Economy and Latin America, 1965-1985 (1992), of Banking on the World: The Politics of American International Finance (1987), and the co-author or co-editor of over a dozen other books on related topics. His articles on the politics of international economic issues have appeared in a wide variety of scholarly and general-interest publications.
