September 10, 2018

lloyds bank — CC-BY 2.0CC-BY 2.0 :: William Warby / flickr.com

Can the financial system work for the economy, people & the planet?

Lecture by Nick Silver
London, 10 Oct 2018 | 6.15pm

The current financial system developed to serve capitalism 1.0, a world of mass employment based on producing physical goods. This world is ceasing to exist – the talk will discuss the trends that are causing the change, and how finance needs to change to serve the economy of the future. We need the financial system to re-allocate capital into a sustainable low carbon economy as well as into areas which give positive social benefit, such as health and alleviating poverty. The tools to do so have been developed but much financial activity is essentially rent extraction. The emergence of disruptive technology provides a window of opportunity to reshape the financial system.

Nick is managing director of Callund Consulting, founder and director of Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) and Radix, the think tank of the radical centre. He is also a visiting fellow at Anglia Ruskin University and Cass Business School. He recently won The President’s Award for outstanding contribution to the Actuarial Profession and the Phiatus Award for an actuary who has made the most impressive charitable efforts.

Nick’s book, Finance, Society and Sustainability was recently published by Palgrave Macmillan. From the publisher’s description:

“This book is a critical analysis of the impact of the financial system on the economy, society and the natural environment. It cuts through the noise to looks at its purpose, its activities, and what it does in practice.

Unlike other books that cover the last financial crisis and the risk of another one; this book is about the consequence of the financial system continuing in its current form. It argues that the financial system is a construct of flawed economic theories, designed in the hope that the market will efficiently allocate society’s capital. Instead, the finance sector allocates savings and investment to maximize its own revenues, with resulting collateral damage to the economy, society and the environment.

Although governments try to preserve and regulate the existing system, it is being replaced by a new system driven by technological innovation. The book describes the opportunities this presents for a renaissance of the financial system to actually meet the needs of society, and to re-engineer our economy to avoid environmental crisis.”