Thread by @dw2

Just started broadcasting: @AdairTurnerUK in discussion with @RSAMatthew "Economic Policy for a Post-Crisis World" #RSAturner

#RSAturner Adair Turner says that his intellectual heroes are Karl Popper and John Maynard Keynes, who led him to deeply appreciate the merits of a mixed economy, and the importance of approaching questions of economy policies on the basis of facts rather than ideology

Whilst the financial system after 2008 was changed to be more resilient, deeper issues weren't addressed: the over-financialisation of the economy, systematically increasing inequality, and preparedness for unexpected extreme negative events - Adair Turner at #RSAturner

3 conditions for a crisis to be turned into a positive change, suggests @RSAMatthew #RSAturner:
1) demand & capacity for the change, before the crisis;
2) the crisis allows people to see a prefiguring of a new world to come;
3) public willingness to accept some pain from change

Adair Turner expects the Covid crisis to accelerate and intensify the shift, in many segments of industry, from bricks and mortar, populated by people, to automated systems involving robots #RSAturner

The key complication, says Adair Turner, is that the speed up in automation is happening in parallel with a downturn in the possibilities for human-to-human close contact, removing the chance for jobs of the tactile type to replace the ones lost in the former type #RSAturner

At least as important as a formal UBI is the provision of affordable housing, attractive low-cost transport, and the other foundations of an attractive standard of living, even when people's income is relatively low - Adair Turner at #RSAturner

In the route out of the crisis, the UK should keep in mind the huge possibilities for both society and the economy of green electrification and the enormous assets of renewable energy from the North Sea - Adair Turner #RSAturner

This sentiment may sound like old news, but it's encouraging to hear it stated so clearly by a former director general of the CBI. The case for a green new deal is moving from the fringe to the mainstream #RSAturner

Whether the 3rd of these conditions can be achieved, noted @RSAMatthew, depends strongly on the level of agreement within society. If society contains starkly divergent views as to the case for giving up previous benefits (or whatever), it's unlikely to happen #RSAturner