CER podcast series: The politics of slow growth in Europe

In November, the CER took 50 of Europe's top economists and political commentators to Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire for a conference on 'The politics of slow growth in Europe'. This CER podcast series offers an insight into the discussions of that weekend.

Episode 1: What happens to our politics if our economies do not grow?

Claire Waysand, General Auditor at the Treasury, Ministry of the Economy and Industry & Digital Sector, and Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, discuss what happens to our politics if our economies do not grow, and how to create economic policies that avoid lurches to the left or to the right.

Episode 2: What explains the productivity slowdown?
Laurence Boone, Chief Economist and G20 Finance Deputy, and Duncan Weldon, economist and writer, discuss the causes of Europe’s productivity slowdown, and whether or not it is the legacy of the economic crisis.

Episode 3: Will the median worker do better or worse in the future?
Stephen King, Senior Economic Adviser at HSBC, and Sotiria Theodoropoulou, Senior Researcher and Head of Unit at the European Trade Union Institute, discuss the future of the median worker, including the impact of technological and demographic changes.

Episode 4: The macroeconomic implications of low productivity growth
Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, Professor at the Paris School of Economics, and Brad Setser, Senior Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, discuss whether European governments are being too timid in promoting economic growth, and whether there is a role for central banks in boosting productivity.   

Episode 5: Should governments be more interventionist?
Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation, and Shahin Vallée, from the European Institute at London School of Economics, discuss the growing consensus that the state will do more for its citizens, and the political constraints on governments' ability to intervene.