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.
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.
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.