Europe in the World Lecture 2008
Europe and the Global Financial Crisis
'Europe and the Global Financial Crisis' was the title of this
year's Europe in the World lecture which brought together a
distinguished audience of over 300 representatives of business,
government and academia with the students of the European Business
School and Regent's College.
Professor Michael Scriven, Director of
the European Business School
London, introduced the meeting and welcomed guests to the new
Institute of Contemporary European Studies (iCES) within the
European Business School London at Regent's College.
Professor John Drew, Jean Monnet
Professor of European Business and Management and moderator,
introduced the panellists and commented on the importance of the
Europe in the World Lecture theme by highlighting the significance
of the notion of ‘crisis’, its dangers and opportunities and
its importance for Europe.
Unbalanced Growth In The World Economy
Sir John Gieve, Deputy Governor of the
Bank of England gave the introductory speech in which he underlined
how the issues of the last year have brought home the costs of
unbalanced growth in the world economy. While the onset of the
recession may have started with a bursting property bubble in the
US, it has expanded into a global financial crisis and brought on
recession throughout the advanced economies and a sharp
deceleration of growth elsewhere, arguing: “the roots of the crisis
lay in global imbalances in trade and capital flows between
advanced and emerging economies”
Sir John Gieve argued that the immediate priority was to
deal with this downswing. In his view, the extraordinary
measures that have been taken in the UK and in other countries are
having a positive impact but more may need to be done. He proposed
that we must also learn some lessons for policy in the medium
term including the need for far better coordination of policy
internationally and the need for some new policy instruments
alongside interest rates to dampen the financial cycle.
Panel Members
Sir John's speech was admirably commented on by three eminent panel members:
Mr Johnny Åkerholm [Nordic Investment Bank], Mr Mike Clack [J.P.
Morgan] and Mr Hugh Pym [BBC]. Their presentations focussed on
different topics: from the role and impact of the media in the
crisis, to the need to re-examine the relationship between the
private and public financial sectors, to the strategic importance
of the European Union as a stabilising influence in times of
financial crisis.
The interventions of the panellists led to a lively series of
questions and comments from the audience on the likely depth of the
crisis, the implications for the Euro, the effect on other sectors,
the role of the banking sector and the implications for the
involvement of governments in future activities. The session
concluded with a vote of thanks by Fredrick Eriksson, a final
year student on the BA degree in International Business at the
European Business School London.
The discussion continued during the subsequent reception in
Regent's College providing an opportunity for the audience to speak
directly to the panellists.
Wednesday 19th
of November 2008
Institute of Contemporary European Studies (iCES)
European Business School London
Page last updated 3/16/2009