What do Brian Eno, Yanis Varoufakis & Charlotte Church all have in common?

Until last November, possibly nothing! However, since our event ‘Everything you always wanted to know about economics but were too afraid to ask’ they have now joined our mission to improve public understanding of economics.

Hosted at Brian Eno’s studio, ‘Everything you always wanted to know about economics but were too afraid to ask’ was the first event of its kind that we’ve held. We used it as an opportunity to showcase the highlights of our first two years’ work to new audiences as well as old friends.

As guests came in, they had the option of going into our ‘Economy confession booth’, where they were asked, “What’s the one thing you always wanted to know about economics but were too afraid to ask?”. Their questions (ranging from “What even is economics?” to “Does growth really matter?” were then put to our panel, consisting of Yanis Varoufakis, Ayesha Hazarika and Ha-Joon Chang.

Each panellist came with their own take on what economics is, who economics is for and what we need to do about it, and sense of humour that made the whole event considerably more entertaining than your average economics debate (we thought so anyway!). Ayesha spoke about the importance of a diversity of voices being included in economic debates, to help creation of economic policy that serves the diversity of the UK. Yanis focussed more on overthrowing capitalism, essentially arguing that nothing will change until everything changes. A particular highlight for me was Ha-Joon comparing insects to shrimps, and labelling anyone who doesn’t want to eat them a hypocrite — ‘They’re just tree shrimps! Tree shrimps!’.

From left to right: Maeve Cohen (Rethinking Economics), Antonia Jennings (Economy), Yanis Varoufakis, Victoria Waldersee (Economy), Ayesha Hazarika, Brian Eno, Ha-Joon Chang

Before the panel started, we managed to sneak in a live radio broadcast. We were incredibly happy to have TalkRadio broadcasting live for three hours from the event, interviewing some of our guests — including Brian Eno himself, academic David Graeber and Charlotte Church. Don’t say we don’t have diverse supporters! You can listen to the best bits of the show here.

‘What systems do we have in place to deal with automation in employment? Jobs.. people.. How on earth are people going to survive when the majority of jobs are going to be taken by computers?’ Charlotte Church, Singer & Activist

‘Given that consumerism is just about bursting through every environmental boundary, how is any for of growth, brown or green, compatible with the survival of the living planet?’ George Monbiot, Writer

‘I want to increase my knowledge of economics. Should I go straight in with the Financial Times? Is there a good book I should read? Or should I just come along to more Economy events?’ Carole Stone, Author & Broadcaster

‘I think economics can become understandable if we make it a requirement for professional economics to make their research accessible to ordinary people’ Ha-Joon Chang, Economist, Cambridge University

‘What does productivity really mean? In Germany, it will take them 3 days to make something, and us 5. How can we smarten up what we do and make ourselves more efficient?’ Katie Perrior, Political Advisor

‘What is a hedge fund and why aren’t they illegal?’ Daphne Guinness, Fashion Designer

‘How does economics impact how people actually live their lives? Most people don’t live their lives by graphs, spreadsheets or statistics.. actually people live their lives through emotions, wellbeing and their everyday lived experiences. It would be good to see economics having a better understanding and reflection of that!’ Ayesha Hazarika, Political Commentator & Comedian

The range of people who came interested in our cause was great. From George Monbiot (Guardian) to leading figures in finance, it really felt like economic empowerment is an issue that many people see the need to fight for, and believe could benefit wide sections of society. Our research report, launched on the evening, confirms this — with more understanding of the economy and economics, everyone can and should feel able to shape the economy.

Thank you to everyone that was involved in the evening. For such a small charity to have hosted such a high profile evening was an incredible privilege (and at times a challenge!), and would have been impossible without the huge collective effort it was. If you’d like to be invited to similar events we hold in the future, please consider donating today. Thank you!