Clare Payne, Barrow Cadbury Trust debates what needs to change if we were to achieve ‘Economics for Everyone’

The second public event of the RSA’s pioneering citizen-engagement programme, the Citizen’s Economic Council, took place on Tuesday 10th November 2016.

Clare Payne, Economic Justice Programme Manager at Barrow Cadbury Trust - strategic partner for the programme, took to the stage alongside Katie Ghose, Chief Executive of Electoral Reform Society, Joe Earle from Rethinking Economics Foundation and Julia Rampen, Editor of Staggers - the New Statesman politics blog.

Clare commented on issues from raising the quality of debate around economics and providing a voice to those furthest from power, to the trust in economic experts and the role of the voluntary sector, campaigning organisation and trust commissions in the debate on economics.

“We [Barrow Cadbury Trust] are working with a policy truth commission in Birmingham and think that it’s an incredibly useful opportunity for individuals in positions of power and creative leaders to really hear about how the things they are doing on a daily basis are affecting individuals in communities. [The] experience of those testifiers in the policy truth commissions, like so many that will be shared over the course of the RSA’s Citizen Economic Council,  will be explained in words such as of debt, job loss, benefits sanctions, food banks, getting by, being broke. They’re not going to be talked about in terms of GDP, inflation and job markets – we hope that they will be heard and listened to by private businesses, by banks, local and national government and the public.

_{Clare Payne}

_{Economic Justice Programme Manager}

_{Barrow Cadbury Trust}

You can listen to the full audio recording of the panel discussion online.

If you are interested in opportunities to speak at RSA events or in contributing a guest blog, please contact Hannah Pater, Senior Partnerships Manager at Hannah.Pater@rsa.org.uk