The last decade in the UK has been extraordinary. Professor Simon Wren-Lewis, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Oxford University and member of the PEF Council, posits that it has been shaped by three big lies in which the mainstream media were complicit. The first was austerity, where most of the media ignored mainstream economics and …

The last decade in the UK has been extraordinary. Professor Simon Wren-Lewis, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Oxford University and member of the PEF Council, posits that it has been shaped by three big lies in which the mainstream media were complicit.

The first was austerity, where most of the media ignored mainstream economics and pushed the nonsensical idea that we should reduce the deficit in the middle of a recession. The second was the 2015 election, where the slowest recovery for centuries and unprecedented falling real wages were sold as a strong economy. The third was Brexit, where one part of the media acted as propagandists and the other part balanced truth with lies.

In this special public lecture, hosted by the Progressive Economy Forum, Professor Wren-Lewis explored

NewStatesman/SPERI Prize Lecture: “What Brexit and austerity tell us about economics, policy and the media”

NewStatesman/SPERI Prize Lecture: “What Brexit and austerity tell us about economics, policy and the media”