Jan Kregel - Financial Governance for Innovation and Social Inclusion

Jan Kregel (Levy Institute and Tallinn University of Technology) explained that, while we thought that fixing the banks balance sheets would allow them to lend in support of recovery, they are in fact not lending to support productive investment, basically because there is no demand to finance investment. He claimed that this is because we have not fixed household balance sheets so that there is no private sector demand to replace declining government spending. Kregel concluded his speech arguing that the problem of recovery can only be solved by a recovery in employment: a government jobs scheme of employer of last resort as suggested by Hyman Minsky would be a big step towards recovery. The workshop on Financial Governance for Innovation and Social Inclusion brought together international economists working on issues related to "Reorienting Financial Reform" and "Re-shaping Financial Institutions for Innovation and Development" - under the Reforming Global Financial Governance external-link-icon initiative of the Ford Foundation. On Day 1, the workshop kicked off with a policy dialogue in UK House of Commons (Parliament), hosted by Shadow Business Minister Chi Onwurah MP and attended by parliamentarians, policy-makers, civil society organisations and the media. The discussion considered how financial governance for innovation and social inclusion is a key policy priority in order to make sure that innovation is not only smart, but also inclusive and sustainable. More info at: http://financeinnovationsocialinclusion.com