Even before the financial crisis, many economies faced increasing inequality and growing pressure to increase employment and earnings. The great recession added to the pressure on government revenues, making it even more important to get the tax and welfare-benefit system right. 

The next Masterclass in this year’s labour markets programme will focus on tax and welfare-benefit reforms as they impact on earnings, incomes and inequality.  Surveying recent literature and contemporary modelling approaches, it will highlight the changing structure of the UK labour market and prospects for inclusive growth.  It’s a must for anyone with an interest in empirical methods, public policy design, or the fiscal and political sustainability of our current economic system.

Sir Richard is one of the UK’s most highly respected economists globally.  He is the David Ricardo Professor of Political Economy at University College London and the Director of the ESRC Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy at the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He was the Research Director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies between 1986-2016 (January). He is also a Fellow of the Econometric Society (1991), Fellow of the British Academy (1996), Honorary Member of the American Economic Association (2001), Honorary Member American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002) and Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (2003).  He was knighted in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to economics and social science, and has won numerous awards, including most recently a 2014 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (along with David Card) for “their contributions to empirical microeconomics”, and the 2016 Nemmers Prize in Economics for “his important contributions to labor economics, public finance and applied econometrics”.

Look out for the final Masterclass in the labour markets programme, to be delivered by Dr Brad Speigner of the Bank of England’s Structural Analysis division (November, date TBC) on how the Bank’s labour market analysis shapes monetary policy.

Registration is from 12pm; presentation will start promptly at 12.30pm. Booking is required: if you wish to attend, please email admin@sbe.co.uk