THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF MR OSBORNE

To De Montfort University early this evening for the latest in the Distinguished Lecture Series. There's a good turnout in the Hugh Aston Building to listen to Ann Pettifor, Fellow of the New Economics Foundation. She gave a lecture short, sharp and shocking talk focused on a research paper that she's written jointly with Prof. Victoria Chick, Emeritus Professor of Economics at University College London: The Economic Consequences of Mr Osborne.

In her talk, Ann describes how fiscal consolidation does not slash the debt, rather it contributes to it, as the extent of economic recovery becomes increasingly uncertain. She takes us on a brief but illuminating survey of a century’s worth of macroeconomic evidence to argue that, contrary to conventional wisdom, we need to spend away the debt.

Ann founded the Jubilee 2000 campaign, which succeeded in persuading world leaders to cancel the unpayable debts of the poorest countries. She issues a challenge to the audience this evening, to reverse the trend by which we as a society have allowed politicians, economists and bankers to blind us (and, it would appear, themselves) with the "science" of economics. She urges us to educate ourselves about the workings of the economy, to understand what's happening and - most importantly - to take action!

Virtually everyone seems to be fired up, from what I can see. As we pour out of the lecture theatre, I feel we should be gathering up flaming brands and heading into to town, to protest at each and every bank, like villagers laying siege to Castle Frankenstein.

Read Ann Pettifor's blog and follow her on Twitter: @AnnPettifor

Follow the New Economics Foundation on Twitter: @nef