Book talk: 'Cogs and Monsters: what economics is and what it should be' with Prof Diane Coyle (Online Only)

Past Event

Date
 10 November 2021, 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Location
 Online - Crowdcast

Event Recording:

Digital technology is disruptive, and it is not sparing economics from that disruption. What are the challenges facing economics and economists in the post-financial crisis, post-pandemic, world as they respond to fundamental structural changes?

Digital technology, big data, big tech, machine learning, and AI are revolutionising both the tools of economics and the phenomena it seeks to measure, understand, and shape.

In this talk Diane Coyle, Author of Cogs and Monsters, and Professor Ian Goldin, Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technological and Economic Change, will explore the enormous problems - but also opportunities - facing economics today if it is to respond effectively to these dizzying changes and help policymakers solve the world’s crises, from pandemic recovery and inequality to slow growth and the climate emergency.

Diane Coyle

Professor Diane Coyle
Bennett Professor of Public Policy, University of Cambridge

Professor Diane Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. Diane co-directs the Bennett Institute where she heads research under the themes of progress and productivity. Her latest book is ‘Markets, State and People – Economics for Public Policy’ examines how societies reach decisions about the use and allocation of economic resources. Her next book, 'Cogs and Monsters: What Economics Is, and What It Should Be' was published on 12 October 2021.

Diane is also a Director of the Productivity Institute, a Fellow of the Office for National Statistics, an expert adviser to the National Infrastructure Commission, and Senior Independent Member of the ESRC Council. She has served in public service roles including as Vice Chair of the BBC Trust, member of the Competition Commission, of the Migration Advisory Committee and of the Natural Capital Committee. Diane was Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester until March 2018 and was awarded a CBE for her contribution to the public understanding of economics in the 2018 New Year Honours.

Ian Goldin1

Professor Ian Goldin
Director, Oxford Martin Programme on Technological and Economic Change

Professor Ian Goldin was the founding Director of the Oxford Martin School from September 2006 to September 2016. He is currently Oxford University Professor of Globalisation and Development, Senior Fellow at the Oxford Martin School, Director of the Oxford Martin Programmes on Technological and Economic Change; Future of Work; and Future of Development and a Professorial Fellow at the University’s Balliol College.

From 2003 to 2006 he was Vice President of the World Bank, and prior to that the Bank’s Director of Development Policy (2001-2003). He served on the Bank’s senior management team and led the Bank’s collaboration with the United Nations and other partners as well as with key countries. As Director of Development Policy, he played a pivotal role in the research and strategy agenda of the Bank.

From 1996 to 2001 he was Chief Executive and Managing Director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and served as an advisor to President Nelson Mandela. He succeeded in transforming the Bank to become the leading agent of development in the 14 countries of Southern Africa. During this period, Goldin served on several Government committees and Boards, and was Finance Director for South Africa’s Olympic Bid.

Previously, Goldin was Principal Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, and Program Director at the OECD Development Centre in Paris, where he directed the Programs on Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development.

He has published over 50 articles and 23 books. He is the presenter of three BBC series After the Crash, Will AI Kill Development? and The Pandemic That Changed the World. His most recent books are Terra Incognita: 100 Maps to Survive the Next 100 Years and Rescue: From Global Crisis to a Better World. More information can be found at iangoldin.org