#2

27 April 2015 at 18.30 Past event

Sir Dave Ramsden: 50 years of the Government Economic Service

King’s College London

The second meeting of the Strand Group, the signature events series of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, took place at the university’s Strand campus on 27 April. Sir Dave Ramsden, Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury, Head of the Government Economic Service (GES) and recently-appointed Visiting Professor to King’s addressed a diverse and distinguished audience on ‘50 years of the Government Economic Service’.

The event was organised in partnership with King’s College London’s Department of Political Economy, who have recently appointed Sir Dave as Visiting Professor. After a brief introduction by Head of Department Professor Jeremy Jennings, Sir Dave spoke about the role of the GES since 1964, through the ups and downs of Britain’s postwar economic history, going on to discuss the current state of the GES, and its role in shaping other institutions such as the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR). The lecture was followed by a lively – if necessarily off-the-record, due to the upcoming general election – question and answer session, with challenging questions from prominent economists, journalists, Treasury officials and academics in attendance to mark the occasion. The event was chaired by Dr Jon Davis of the Policy Institute at King’s.

Speaking in front of an audience including four previous heads of the GES, four Permanent Secretaries to the Treasury past and present, three former members of the Monetary Policy Committee and the first interim head of the OBR, Sir Dave spoke of the importance of learning the lessons of history in improving economic policymaking in the future. He spoke with pride of the current GES, which has expanded significantly since the 1990s and is now the biggest recruiter of economists in the UK, and considered its future role. Professor Denise Lievesley, Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy at King’s, closed the event.

Speaking in front of an audience including four previous heads of the GES, four Permanent Secretaries to the Treasury past and present, three former members of the Monetary Policy Committee and the first interim head of the OBR, Sir Dave spoke of the importance of learning the lessons of history in improving economic policymaking in the future. He spoke with pride of the current GES, which has expanded significantly since the 1990s and is now the biggest recruiter of economists in the UK, and considered its future role. Professor Denise Lievesley, Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy at King’s, closed the event.

The event was particularly significant in marking an emerging relationship between King’s College London and the Treasury, which sees Sir Dave Ramsden join Sir Nicholas Macpherson, current Permanent Secretary to the Treasury and the longest-serving Permanent Secretary in Whitehall, as Visiting Professor at King’s.

The event was particularly significant in marking an emerging relationship between King’s College London and the Treasury, which sees Sir Dave Ramsden join Sir Nicholas Macpherson, current Permanent Secretary to the Treasury and the longest-serving Permanent Secretary in Whitehall, as Visiting Professor at King’s.