Rethinking public assets: land and capital

The University of Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations has joined with the New Economics Foundation and Positive Money to host three seminars to discuss the pressing need for innovation in the management of state economic assets.

With experts from academia, think-tanks and professional practice we aim to develop and take forward practical policy ideas for the governance and management of public wealth, innovations in money and opportunities arising from a better understanding of the ways banking, land values and capital flows are linked.

Radical change in the way state assets are managed could assist governments in tackling major social and economic policy challenges in the UK such as: government and household debt; worsening income and wealth inequality and lack of affordable housing. Clarity around the nature and scale of public assets and how they can be better deployed by governments is needed. Infrastructure financing is a recent but now prominent feature on the political agenda, as is land ownership reform. The possibility of a citizen’s income and a citizen’s wealth fund are also gaining traction in public debate. These seminars will explain these ideas and allow for debate and consensus-building. Each event will include short panel presentations and facilitated discussion with all present.

Rethinking public assets: land and capital

Thursday 10 December 2015, 17:30-19:30

New Economics Foundation, 10 Salamanca Place, London SE1 7HB

The way land and property perform within the UK economy is not well understood. For many commentators, the UK has a dysfunctional planning system and an immensely concentrated but opaque pattern of land ownership. Public dissatisfaction with both government and market-led responses to the housing crisis is mounting. This seminar will look at land and housing policy, expose underlying problems (such as the structural link between land and our financial system) and address the potential solutions, notably how to ensure a functional housing policy.

Josh Ryan-Collins, Associate Director at the New Economics Foundation and author of 'Where does Money Come From?'. Josh leads a programme of research on how the financial sector and the economy can be reformed to align with longer term interests of society.

Toby Lloyd, Policy Director at Shelter. He has over a decade of experience in housing policy gained across the voluntary, public and private sectors.

Beth Stratford, PhD student at the University of Roehampton and a visiting lecturer at the University of Masaryk and the Centre for Alternative Technology. Her interests are in post growth economics, and housing market reform.

Facilitator: Dr Angela Cummine, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford