About Progressive futures: Learning lessons for a new political economy

This June, IPPR, Common Wealth, and the ZOE Institute, with the support of the Omidyar Network, are hosting a two-day conference, Progressive Futures: Learning lessons for a new political economy.

With a Trump Administration upending political institutions and remake American society, China’s dominance of green strategic sectors and supply chains deepening, and the European centre-left boxed in and on the backfoot, this conference will examine what can be recovered from the recent experience of the progressives in government, but also how that agenda must now deepen to better meet the economic, geopolitical, and decarbonisation challenges of our age of overlapping emergency.

Please note, this conference is by invitation-only.

Schedule

Assessing the political moment

In this session, we will explore both industrial policy between countries - what a progressive vision for international climate and economic cooperation looks like amid (trade) wars and geopolitical tensions - and within countries - what is needed to advance the goals of industrial strategy, such as decarbonisation, autonomy, competitiveness, territorial cohesion, and a just transition.

Speakers include:

Heather Boushey, former Member of the Council of Economic Advisors to President Biden
Patrick English, Director of Political Analytics, YouGov
Dr Sacha Hilhorst, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, London School of Economics
Sven Giegold, former MEP and State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economy and Climate Protection, German Parliament

In conversation: Professor Mariana Mazzucato and Heather Stewart

In this session, Heather Stewart, special correspondent at the Guardian will interview Professor Mariana Mazzucato, special advisor to the G20 on Industrial Policy and Economic Growth, about her work.

Competition, antitrust, and confronting market power

In this session, we will explore a forward-thinking vision for the future of competition, what a successful anti-trust agenda looks like, and how the AI trilemma – balancing safety, progress, and participation – be addressed effectively.

Speakers include:

Professor Tommaso Valletti, Professor of Economics at Imperial College Business School
Michelle Meagher, Co-Founder, Balanced Economy Project
Nidhi Hegde, Executive Director, American Economic Liberties *virtual

Progressive macroeconomics

In this session, we will explore how to drive growth in a progressive way and ensure that the economy better serves people. We will discuss what roles fiscal rules, taxation and the removal of harmful subsidies play in generating fiscal capacity to address public investment gaps.

Speakers include:

Alfie Stirling, Director of Insight and Policy, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Dr Leah Downey, Junior Research Fellow, St John's College Cambridge
Rakeen Mabud, Chief Economist and Senior Fellow, Groundwork Collaborative
Martin Sandbu, European Economics Commentator, Financial Times

Future-fit industrial policy: Trade, resilience, and green supply chains

Speakers include:

Todd Tucker, Director of Industrial Policy and Trade, Roosevelt Institute
Ben Beachy, Senior Fellow at the Global Fund for a New Economy and former Special Assistant to President Biden for Climate Policy, Industrial Sector & Community Investment
Johanna Lehne, Associate Director for Clean Economy, E3G
Mika Minio-Paluello, Senior Policy Officer (Industry and Climate), Trades Union Congress

In conversation: Heather Boushey and Mehreen Khan

In this session, Mehreen Khan, economics editor at The Times will interview Heather Boushey, former member of the Council of Economic Advisors to President Biden on where progressives should go next on economic policy, and how to make more appealing economic policy in the face of the far right.