Are we suffering from a growth delusion?
The Capitalist16 Mars 2018

Are we suffering from a growth delusion?

In this week’s Spring Statement, Philip Hammond described himself as positively tiggerish about the economic news he was bringing to the House of Commons. His upbeat mood was, in large part, thanks to a minuscule uptick in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s growth forecasts for the next five years.


It’s a reminder of just how central GDP is to the decisions politicians and policymakers make, as well as just how little thought most of us put into what is behind this all-important number. That makes this week the perfect time to talk to David Pilling, the Financial Times’s Africa Editor and the author of The Growth Delusion. David thinks there is a major problem with how we measure growth. In fact, he goes further. It’s not just we are getting the measurements wrong, it’s that we are too slavishly devoted to growth in the first place.


For this week’s episode of Free Exchange, CapX's Editor Oliver Wiseman spoke to David at the FT’s offices about what really goes into the most important number in economics, and how we could possibly be too focused on growth when it raises living standards and allows us to live longer happier lives.

Stay informed with CapX's unmissable daily briefings from the heart of Westminster. Go to capx.co to subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(320)

Mel Stride on the cost of instability

Mel Stride on the cost of instability

Britain is paying more to borrow than any other major Western economy. So why is Labour preoccupied with internal power struggles? In a special live address, Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride delivers his ...

20 Maj 46min

Despatch: Andy Burnham is overrated

Despatch: Andy Burnham is overrated

Andy Burnham is heading for a leadership bid, and he's arrived with a big idea: Manchesterism. Apparently a form of business-friendly socialism, it's built on borrowing, backed by the Manchester skyli...

18 Maj 5min

Kallum Pickering: The bond markets will decide Britain's PM

Kallum Pickering: The bond markets will decide Britain's PM

Keir Starmer is fighting for his political life. The bond markets are watching — and they have a long memory.Kallum Pickering, chief economist at Peel Hunt and columnist for The Telegraph, joins CapX ...

13 Maj 35min

Despatch: Why the old parties aren't dead

Despatch: Why the old parties aren't dead

From fractured local elections to the rise of Reform and the Greens, British politics increasingly feels unstable, fragmented and unpredictable. Yet in this essay, Lee David Evans of the Mile End Inst...

11 Maj 6min

Why aren't we investing our money?

Why aren't we investing our money?

When a business raises capital, it buys equipment, expands its operations, and hires people. That’s how investment becomes jobs. But the United Kingdom has ranked in the bottom quartile of advanced ec...

6 Maj 28min

Live: Palantir and the AI race

Live: Palantir and the AI race

Britain may have stumbled almost accidentally into one of the best positions in the world to win the AI race. The question is whether it has the wit and will to press on.Recorded live at the Margaret ...

29 Apr 45min

Despatch: Should the government run supermarkets?

Despatch: Should the government run supermarkets?

As grocery prices rise and political pressure mounts, radical solutions are back on the table – including state-owned food stores. In this essay, Jimmy Nicholls, writer of Poke the Bear and host of Th...

27 Apr 6min

The left stole feminism – let’s take it back

The left stole feminism – let’s take it back

The feminist case for capitalism is one of the most powerful arguments nobody seems to be making. Zoe Strimpel has decided to make it anyway.A columnist for The Telegraph and author of Good Slut: How ...

22 Apr 17min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

svenska-fall
aftonbladet-krim
fordomspodden
p3-krim
rss-krimstad
flashback-forever
rss-vad-fan-hande
aftonbladet-daily
rss-sanning-konsekvens
rss-krimreportrarna
svd-ledarredaktionen
spar
politiken
rss-flodet
en-runda-till
rss-frandfors-horna
motiv
omni-podd
rss-expressen-dok
rss-klubbland-en-podd-mest-om-frolunda