On May 28, 2024, Daniel Susskind of King’s College London and Oxford University joined us at the Lab for his talk, “Growth: A History and a Reckoning.”\

Over the past two centuries, economic growth has freed billions from poverty and made our lives far healthier and longer.

As a result, the unfettered pursuit of growth defines economic life around the world. Yet this prosperity has come at an enormous price: deepening inequalities, destabilizing technologies, environmental destruction, and climate change. Confusion reigns. For many, in our era of anemic economic progress, the worry is slowing growth—in the UK, Europe, China, and elsewhere. Others understandably claim, given its costs, that the only way forward is through ‘degrowth’, deliberating shrinking our economies.

At this time of uncertainty about growth and its value, award-winning economist Daniel Susskind has written Growth: a History and a Reckoning. In this talk, he will argue that we cannot abandon growth, but instead, we must redirect it, making it better reflect what we truly value. He will explore what really drives growth, and offer original ideas for combatting our economic slowdown.

Daniel Susskind is a research professor in Economics at King’s College London and a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University. He is the author of A World Without Work and co-author (with Richard Susskind) of the bestselling The Future of the Professions. A former Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University, he has held numerous posts in the British government, including in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, the Cabinet Office, and the Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street.