When Vote Leave’s Michael Gove said ‘people in this country have had enough of experts,’ his particular target was economists. He suggested that having failed to predict the financial crisis, they were not to be trusted. For some, this put Gove on the side of astrology against astronomy, homeopathy over medicine. Was the Brexit vote a rejection of expertise in public life or simply evidence that the economy has not been delivering for most people? Does the idea of what’s ‘good for the economy’ obscure different interests within society? Is there still a role for expert economists to guide policy?
The speakers are Julian Harris, deputy editor of City AM; Angus Kennedy, convenor of The Academy, author of Being Cultured: in defence of discrimination; Iain Martin, author and commentator on politics and finance, editor of Reaction; Jonathan Portes, prinicipal research fellow, National Institute of Economic and Social Research; Vicky Pryce, board member, Centre for Economics and Business Research. The chair is Rob Killick, CEO, Clerkswell.
