Clare Distinguished Lecture in Economics and Public Policy

The Clare Distinguished Lecture in Economics and Public Policy first took place in 2006. Each year, the College asks a distinguished visitor to deliver a lecture on a topic of their choice. The aim of the lecture is to encourage the interface between academia and business/public life. The lecture is open to the Collegiate Cambridge community.

The Clare Distinguished Lecture in Economics and Public Policy is made possible by The Smithers & Co. Charity and Andrew Smithers (Clare, 1959).

Sir Tim Hitchens and Mr Haruhiko Kuroda

Sir Tim Hitchens and Mr Haruhiko Kuroda

18 March 2025

"Four Challenges Faced by the World Economy: Fragmentation, Demographics, AI and Climate Change"

Lecturer: Haruhiko Kuroda, Former President, Asian Development Bank; Former Governor, Bank of Japan

Discussant: Sir Tim Hitchens KCVO CMG, President, Wolfson College Oxford; Former British Ambassador to Tokyo

To watch the lecture, click here.

2 May 2024

'Inequalities: why they matter and principles for policy'

Lecturer: Paul Johnson CBE, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Discussant: Tim Gardam, Chief Executive of The Nuffield Foundation.

To watch the lecture, click here.

Dame Francis Cairncross

Dame Francis Cairncross

16 February 2023

'In Praise of Economics'

Lecturer: Dame Colette Bowe DBE, a member of the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee and former chair of the UK Banking Standards Board.

Discussant: Dame Francis Cairncross DBE, British economist, journalist and academic and former Rector of Exeter College, Oxford.

To watch the lecture, click here.

28 October 2019

'The Holy Land of Industrialism' Rethinking the Industrial Revolution'

Lecturer: Joel Mokyr, Robert H. Strotz Professor, Department of Economics, Northwestern University

Discussant: Professor Gareth Austin, Professor of Economic History, Fellow of King's College.

To listen to the lecture, click here.
To look at the PowerPoint presentation, click here.

1 March 2018

‘Managing Yale’s Endowment’

Speaker: Dr David F Swensen, Chief Investment Officer, Yale University

Discussant: Dr David Chambers, CEAM Academic Director Reader in Finance at Cambridge Judge Business School

Also generously sponsored by Invesco

To listen to the lecture, click here.

Dr Martin Weale CBE

Dr Martin Weale CBE

13 March 2017

'Resetting the Global Economy'

Speaker: Lord King, former Governor of the Bank of England

Discussant: Dr Martin Weale CBE, former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee and Professor of Political Economy at King’s College London

3 December 2014

'Financial Development and Policy: A view from the front lines'

Speaker: Raghuram Rajan, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India

Discussant: Professor Masaaki Shirakawa, a former Governor of the Bank of Japan

**Professor Masaaki Shirakawa**

**Professor Masaaki Shirakawa**

Professor Barry Eichengreen

Professor Barry Eichengreen

Professor Giancarlo Corsetti

Professor Giancarlo Corsetti

28 February 2013

‘Renminbi Internationalization: Good for China? Bad for us?’

Speaker: Professor Barry Eichengreen, Professor of Economics and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

Discussant: Professor Giancarlo Corsetti, Professor of Macroeconomics, University of Cambridge

For a review of the lecture, click here.

18 February 2011

‘Creating a stable financial system: Is the reform programme sufficiently radical?’

Speaker: Lord Turner, Chairman, Financial Services Authority

Discussant: Paul Tucker, Deputy Governor, Bank of England

To view the slides from the lecture, click here.
To view the transcript from the lecture, click here.

**Jean-Claude Trichet**

**Jean-Claude Trichet**

**Professor Willem Buiter**

**Professor Willem Buiter**

10 December 2009

'Systematic Risk'

Speaker: Jean-Claude Trichet, President, European Central Bank

Discussant: Professor Willem Buiter, London School of Economics and Political Science

14 May 2008

‘A policy framework for Climate Change and Sustainable Development: economic analysis and beyond’

Speaker: Mohan Munasinghe, Vice Chair, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Discussant: David Henderson CMG, Visiting Professor, Westminster Business School

**Mohan Munasinghe**

**Mohan Munasinghe**

**David Henderson CMG**

**David Henderson CMG**

**Haruhiko Kuroda**

**Haruhiko Kuroda**

1 February 2007

‘The Development of China and India – Prospects and Problems’

Speaker: Haruhiko Kuroda, President, Asian Development Bank

Discussant: Dr Andrea Boltho, University of Oxford

31 January 2006

'Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development'

Speaker: Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz, Columbia University, former Chief Economist at the World Bank

Discussant: Martin Wolf CBE, Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times