Academy of Ideas

#EconomyForum: The oil industry in times of Corona

ECONOMY FORUM: Anyone who drives regularly will have noticed the sharp drop in petrol prices since the spate of lockdowns around the world and the fall in economic output. What’s going on? Robert Fig, a seasoned commodity risk practitioner, looks at what this all means for the future of world trade. Will negative pricing become a regular phenomenon? What does the future hold for commodity, bond and currency pricing in general?

#EducationForum: Can we go back to school?

EDUCATION FORUM: Passion and anger have greeted the Westminster government’s proposals for a phased return of school pupils. The largest teaching union, the National Education Union (NEU), says that 92% of its members feel unsafe at what it condemns as a “reckless” plan that is “too fast, too confusing and too risky”. It is advising members not to co-operate. Amid uncertainty around the degree of risk and public disagreement among scientists over the impact and necessity of the lockdown, what are teachers to do: focus on the worst-case scenario or rely on “good solid British common sense”, as exhorted by Boris Johnson? Claire Fox and Conor McCrory discuss.

#BookClub: When art imitates life - Albert Camus’ The Plague in lockdown

BOOK CLUB: The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear, isolation and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine. Each person responds in their own way to the lethal disease: some resign themselves to fate, some seek blame, and a few, like Dr Rieux, resist the terror. Sound familiar? David Bowden re-reads Albert Camus' classic. 

#LockdownDebates: What does George Floyd’s killing mean for British society?

LOCKDOWN DEBATE: As we now all know, on 25 May, a 46-year-old black man named George Floyd was arrested on suspicion of paying for cigarettes with a fake $20 bill. Within 20 minutes he was dead - police officer Derek Chauvin had knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes. Almost immediately, protests, often violent, spread across the US. American cities seem to be burning in righteous rage at the injustice. Since then, largely under the slogan of Black Lives Matter, spontaneous, mass demonstrations have taken place in solidarity with Floyd across the world. What does this all mean for those of us living outside the US? In the UK, protests have taken place in Hyde Park, Parliament Square and other areas with large numbers of mostly young people understandably appalled at racist violence wherever it happens. But are the parallels between the UK and America so obvious? As groups of white people publicly take the knee, is it significant that these discussions about race in 2020 are framed in terms of white privilege and identity, instead of a collective fight against racism? Patrick Vernon OBE, Inaya Folarin Iman, Dr Shahrar Ali, Kunle Olulode and Dr Cheryl Hudson discuss.

#LockdownDebates: Morality during a pandemic, with Susan Neiman and Frank Furedi

LOCKDOWN DEBATE: The worldwide response to the pandemic has challenged many long-cherished values. Democracy was put on hold, with elections postponed and parliaments in recess. Freedoms were curtailed, with extensive powers granted to police forces. Traditional markers of compassion, like funerals, were cancelled. And many say that essential workers, from nurses to shop-assistants, were put in harm’s way. Amidst such widespread moral challenges, how are we to decide what’s right? Whilst a rich tradition of philosophy reflects on how to be moral, can it be useful in such ‘unprecedented’ times? Is there anything we can learn from history? When we are urged to ‘follow the science’ and obey government guidance, is there any room for individual judgement and moral autonomy? Susan Neiman and Frank Furedi discuss.

#LockdownDebates: Has Covid-19 killed globalism?

LOCKDOWN DEBATE: What lessons should we draw from the pandemic response? Is China turning from a ‘status quo’ power to one that will become more disruptive and active in pursuit of global influence? To what extent will the international order and its institutions continue to fray? Are we seeing the return of the nation state, or will realpolitik in the face of the pandemic likely encourage renewal of cooperation and new institutions? What is the likely impact of the inevitable economic restructuring? In short, where next for geopolitics - and is the future one of international disorder? Dr Philip Cunliffe, Mary Dejevsky, Lord Maurice Glasman and Joan Hoey discuss.

#EconomyForum: Covid-19 and the US economy

ECONOMY FORUM: When members of the US Federal Reserve met in late January, they expressed confidence in the country’s ability to stretch a record run of economic growth and job gains well into 2020. Indeed, 2019 had seen strong performance in certain indicators, including rising real incomes among lower-earners. Two months later, the US was in a coronavirus lockdown, and the economy was in freefall. Some 34million jobs have been lost, and GDP is expected to decline by 35% or more in the second quarter. What are the prospects for the US economy to recover? Pre-Covid, was the economy as robust as commentators claimed? Does the crisis provide an opportunity for the US to address its weaknesses? Will government spending have a positive effect, or will a debt overhang be an obstacle to recovery? Will the Fed’s easy money policy work? And, what will the US’s economic problems mean for the world economy? James Matthews introduces.

#LockdownDebates: Is ‘gotcha’ journalism the new normal?

LOCKDOWN DEBATE: What is behind this seeming media crisis and what are the implications? With the press already having taken a beating in some quarters for their failures over reporting Brexit, how worried should we be over the collapse of press standards, and the way the ‘media class’ seems to stand apart from the rest of society? Are we shooting the messenger for the failings of others, such as government mismanagement, even misinformation? What is the news and commentary we need during this period, and how do we go about ensuring the survival and prospering of a free, critical press? Claire Fox, Jodie Ginsberg, Daisy McAndrew and Freddie Sayers discuss.