A generation ago, the so-called Washington Consensus laid out a series of dos and don’ts for policymakers around the world. Today, that vision is recognised as having fallen short in a number of ways – particularly in its neglect of the social and institutional factors that are indispensable for achieving sustained growth and for building fairer and more cohesive societies. The immense challenges humanity faces are easy to list and it is much harder to identify a set of new ideas – and policies – that will solve these seemingly intractable global problems.

In this new world, political leaders and policymakers need guidance and principles that can assist when choosing among policy alternatives. Tim Besley, Irene Bucelli and Andrés Velasco convened over 50 of the world’s leading economists and policy experts at the LSE.

The London Consensus: Economic Principles for the 21st Century is the result of these exchanges. It is not intended as a one-size-fits-all set of economic remedies, but an exercise in assembling the best available evidence and ideas to foster dialogue, and ultimately to develop a set of principles that can address the urgent political, social and economic tasks ahead.

In this podcast, Tim Phillips has joined Andrés Velasco and Tim Besley to ask why the book was created, how policymakers can use it, and whether we should be wary of economists bearing paradigms. 

Find out more and listen to the podcast here.