The Beverage Report Podcast was founded by two second year BSc Economics students with the aim of sharing the pioneering work of the LSE Department of Economics to the wider LSE community and beyond.
Founders Matthew and Tommy share a passion for economics and a curiosity in exploring contemporary policy debates. They realised a great way to do this would be to engage with the experts working down the corridor: people who have changed the world through their policy work for institutions like the World Bank and Bank of England; or whose research has been so impactful that they have they been awarded the Nobel Prize. And with just a short trip to Westminster they could discuss key issues with politicians - leaders of political parties and former Chancellors of the Exchequer - and delve deeper into their role in shaping the economy. Supported by the LSE Department of Economics, the Podcast serves to spread the wisdom of these figures far and wide, in an accessible way. We hope you enjoy it!
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Season 1: The 2008 Financial Crisis
Part 1: The Response to the Crisis
Lord Alistair Darling speaks about the response from within the Treasury; Professor Sir Charles Bean discusses the response from inside the Bank of England; and Professor Wouter Den Haan discusses how teaching economics has changed since the financial crisis.
In Episode 1, Matthew speaks to Lord Alistair Darling about the response to the financial crisis from his perspective at the heart of government.
Alistair Darling was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2015 (most recently for Edinburgh South West) and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007 to 2010. Lord Darling served continuously in the Labour government’s cabinet from 1997 to 2010.
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In the second episode, Matthew speaks to Professor Sir Charles Bean - former Chief Economist and Deputy Governor of the Bank of England - about the response from inside the Bank.
Charles Bean is Professor of Economics at LSE.
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During a visit to LSE, the Queen famously asked why no one saw the 2008 financial crisis coming. Here, Professor Wouter Den Haan, a prestigious macroeconomist- co-director of the Centre for Macroeconomics and key figure within the LSE Department of Economics (Deputy Head of Department (Education))- discusses how macroeconomics has changed as a response to the crisis, and where he thinks it should have changed further. Interviewed by Tommy Sharpe.
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Part 2: In the wake of the Crisis
An interview with Professor Ricardo Reis- one of the most eminent macroeconomists working in the UK- where we pick up from the previous discussion with Professor Wouter den Haan by discussing the role of macroeconomists, then launching into a discussion of the Eurozone Crisis, and what the Eurozone needs to become if it is to continue into its third decade.
Ricardo Reis is A W Phillips Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics.
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In an episode we recorded before COVID-19 escalated, we sat down to record an episode with Professor Silvana Tenreyro about how the Financial Crisis has changed the operation of Central Banks, followed by a discussion on women in economics. Silvana is Professor of Economics at LSE and an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
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Season 2: Policy, COVID-19 and the role of Economists
Professor the Lord Mervyn King discusses all things monetary policy, Lord Nick Macpherson discusses fiscal policy and the changing role of the Treasury and Professor Sir Tim Besley speaks about how to design policies to fight back and why this might be easier in some places, rather than others.
Matthew Bradbury discusses all things monetary policy with Professor the Lord Mervyn King.
Mervyn King was Governor of the Bank of England from 2003 to 2013 and is currently Professor of Economics and Law at New York University and School Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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Matthew Bradbury speaks to Lord Nick Macpherson - former Permanent Secretary to the Treasury - about his time under successive governments, what he has learnt from it and advice that he would pass on to his sucessors today.
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Matthew Bradbury speaks to Professor Sir Tim Besley about COVID-19 in the developing world.
Professor Sir Tim Besley is School Professor of Economics of Political Science and W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics in the Department of Economics at LSE.
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Summer Special Edition
In this summer special edition of The Beverage Report, Tommy Sharpe interviews Kevin Watkins on how COVID-19 is impacting the world's poorest children, the need for educational reform, and whether charities are paternalistic.
Kevin Watkins is Chief Executive of Save the Children UK. He was previously Head of Research at Oxfam and has directed three Human Development Reports for the United Nations Development Program.
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(Photo credit: Africa Progress Panel)