St Catharine's political economy seminars: Lord Eatwell

Wed 21 January 2015

St Catharine's College

John Eatwell taught Economics at the New School for Social Research in New York City in the 1980s and 1990s. He is also a member of various important national bodies. He was chief economic adviser to Neil Kinnock, the then-Leader of the Labour Party, from 1985 to 1992 and is a Labour member of the House of Lords as Baron Eatwell, of Stratton St Margaret in the County of Wiltshire. In 2010, he
was appointed a Labour Opposition Spokesman for the Treasury in the House of Lords by new leader Ed Miliband.

Talk Overview:
John Eatwell has been particularly struck by the a-theoretical stance of the austerity-opposition. In part this is understandable as a reaction to the obscurantist scholasticism of the economic orthodoxy. But it also represents a fundamental failure to engage with our fellow economists - the stated objective of the General Theory. John Eatwell will illustrate why pure theory debates are a key component in opposition to the damaging policies that dominate current policy, and that the theoretical failures of the opposition have strengthened the austerity school.

Cost: no charge