We are proud to announce we will be hosting Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator of the Financial Times, on the 15th of May. After having obtained his degree at Oxford, Wolf went to become a senior economist at the World Bank before turning to financial journalism. To understand Wolf’s influence, one must first understand his audience. They are dedicated Financial Times readers and as Wolf put it: “I’m writing for the people who are doing these things, who are running these things, both governmental and politicians and financiers”.

The discussion will revolve around two topics:

– The importance of economic and financial journalism.
Our world has become increasingly financialized and the consequences of this development were felt during the financial crisis. What role does financial journalism play in keeping the financial sector in check? And to what extent does the attack on established media outlets affect the FT?

– The economic challenges of the coming decade.
Where is economics needed most in the coming decade? We will discuss two possible fields: the economic response to climate change and the role of economics in maintaining liberal democratic values. Firstly, with the release of the latest UNCCP report it has become increasingly clear that an appropriate response to climate change must be taken within the coming decade, what is the role of young economists in this debate and what policies make economic sense? Secondly, the US-China trade war has been dominating economic headlines, is it really only about trade balances or can we expect more economic wars as the liberal world order will be increasingly challenged?