Politics and Economic Shocks: From the IMF Crisis to the Mini-Budget

On 28 September 1976, Chancellor Denis Healey was at Heathrow Airport preparing to fly to an international summit. Instead of boarding the plane, he had to turn round and return to London to negotiate a loan from the IMF – the largest it had ever made at that time – to meet an escalating sterling crisis. The loan came with stern conditions, requiring cuts to the budget, and the charge that Britain had gone ‘cap in hand to the IMF’ became one of the defining memories of the 1970s.

Fifty years on from the IMF crisis, a Labour chancellor called Healey again faces severe economic pressures. In this event, we explore how economic shocks have reshaped British politics, from the IMF loan and the Asian financial crisis to the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-8 and the ‘mini-budget’ of 2022. Our expert panel will ask how, and in what ways, ‘the markets’ constrain governments; what happens when investors lose confidence in governments; what options policymakers have in the face of market pressures; and what such pressures mean for democracy.

All are warmly welcome to attend. Tickets are free, but must be reserved in advance.

This event will be held on Queen Mary's Mile End campus and the exact venue will be announced one week before the event.

Speakers:

Kathleen Burk is Emeritus Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College, London. Her many books include the definitive history of the 1976 crisis: “Goodbye, Great Britain”: The IMF Crisis, co-authored with Alec Cairncross. She has also written extensively on Anglo-American relations and Britain’s place in the world.

Will Davies is is Professor in Political Economy at Goldsmiths, University of London and Director of the Political Economy Research Centre. He has written extensively for the Guardian, the New Statesman and the London Review of Books, and his many books include The Limits of Neoliberalism and Economic Science Fictions.

Stephanie Flanders is head of Economics and Politics at Bloomberg News. She was previously chief market strategist for Britain and Europe for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and was BBC News economics editor for five years. She was an advisor to US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers during the Asian financial crisis, and reported on the Great Financial Crisis for the BBC. She also presented “Stephanomics” and “Masters of Money” on the BBC.

Colm Murphy is a Senior Lecturer in British Politics at Queen Mary University of London, and author of Futures of Socialism: “Modernisation”, the Labour Party and the British Left, 1973-1997. He specialises in the political economy of modern Britain, and recently completed a project on ‘the Crisis of British Keynesianism, 1973-1993’.