Economics for Campaigners

"Economics for Campaigners"

Free public events

"Economics for Campaigners" is a series of free public events for citizens and campaigners, who want to understand economics to make an impact on economic policies and contribute to policy debates in their organizations and communities at the local, national or international level. We will have an interactive discussion exploring difficult questions; we will debunk myths, challenge common misconceptions, and discuss alternatives to mainstream policies. The aim is to support citizens and campaigners to become confident in contributing to policy debates in their communities and organisations about the most urgent social and economic questions of our time. We assume no prior background knowledge and aim to introduce key concepts building on your experience as citizens or campaigners. 

All events are scheduled for 19:00-21:00 to make it feasible to attend after work.  Events are two hours per month including an introduction and lots of time for debate in a participatory format including group discussions and/or questions and answers.

While the events are free, please register here. All events are at the University of Greenwich, Park Row, SE109LS, Greenwich, London. The details of the programme and location are below.

Programme

Public spending: To borrow or not to borrow?

14 May 2018, 19:00, Queen Anne Court, QA065

Özlem Onaran, Professor of Economics, UoG

• What is the government budget? What is fiscal policy and what is its aim?
• What do/should governments spend on? What is green and purple public investment?
• How can it be financed?
• What are taxes, who pays taxes?
• How much can/should the government borrow?
• Is there a role for the Bank of England and monetary policy? What is "People's Quantitative Easing (QE)"?
• Is there a role for a National Investment Bank?

Alternative forms of Social Ownership: Cooperatives

21 June 2018, 19:00, Queen Anne Court, QA075

Adotey Bing-Pappoe, Lecturer in International Business and Economics, UoG and Izzet Hickmet, Darrick Woods School

• Adotey Bing-Pappoe, Workers cooperatives as resistance: examples from India, Spain, Italy, USA, and Argentina
• Izzet Hickmet, Multi-stakeholder cooperatives

 September 2018 – March 2019, dates tba

What is finance for?

Jeff Powell, Senior Lecturer in Economics, UoG, date tba

• How has the role of the financial sector changed over time, and why has it changed?  
• How big should the financial sector be?  
• How do we understand or even measure the costs and benefits of finance?  
• What is financialisation?  Are we financialised? (and could we be de-financialising?)
• What to do about all this?  Does regulation work?  What about 'alternative finance'?  

Who earns and owns how much? Income and wealth inequality

Rafael Wildauer, Lecturer in Economics, UoG  date tba

 Feminist economics: Gender equality and a caring economy

Sue Himmelweit, Emeritus Professor, Open University, date tba

Alternative forms of Social Ownership: Public and municipal ownership and democratic participation,

Jane Lethbridge, Principal Lecturer in Public Services, UoG, date tba

Green economy, climate change, and energy

Maria Nikolaidi, Senior Lecturer in Economics, UoG and Yuliya Yurchenko, Lecturer in International Business , date tba

• How will climate change affect our economies?
• What is the circular economy?
• What is the carbon bubble?
• Can we develop a green financial system?

Housing as a human right

speakers and date tbc

Detailed information on getting to University of Greenwich.
Please visit our website for the Greenwich Papers in Political Economy, GPERC Policy Briefs, other publications, and forthcoming events.
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Organising committee

Organized by Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre (GPERC),

University of Greenwich (UoG)