Empowered Belonging: Uncertainty, UBI, and radical reform with Prof John Kay (Oxford PPE Society, released 3 April 2020)

Empowered Belonging

"If you have managed to reduce risk, then uncertainty is something you can welcome."

Our first podcast is now live! We were delighted to host Professor John Kay for this 34 minute episode. Touching on a universal basic income, Groundhog Day, and green-washing, it is certainly a broad and entertaining discussion.

In the episode, we discuss John's most recent books: Other People's Money and Radical Uncertainty. Other People’s Money plots the route to financial reform and argues why we should take it. It is a fascinating topic which has far reaching implications, which we explore later on. Radical Uncertainty was published in March 2020. Co-authored with former governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King, they explain how contemporary economists have got it wrong on risk and uncertainty. These words are distinct, and 'optimal' models to make decisions are not in fact optimal at all.

Despite his embrace of radical financial reform and of uncertainty, John is not in favour of the radical fiscal idea gripping many political and economic thinkers: universal basic income. Instead, John considers its necessary limits, concluding that the end result looks similar to the welfare system we have already, and for good reason.

Tune in to the Oxford PPE Society's very first podcast: no risk to fear, plenty of uncertainty to enjoy.