Public lecture podcasts

In this episode of Policy Matters, hosts Matt Dickson and Franz Buscha talk to Martha Bloom, a researcher at the Science Policy Research Institute at the University of Sussex. Martha recently wrote a report examining the economic returns to creative arts degrees, the types of employment these graduates go on to and the motivations of those who undertake higher level creative education. Franz, Matt and Martha begin by discussing the difficulties facing the creative industries in the post-pandemic world yet how the crisis has highlighted the importance of these industries for the wellbeing of the nation. Martha then explains the ways in which creative arts graduates contribute to the economy both within the creative industries and more broadly, what her report reveals about their motivations and the benefits that they enjoy across a range of measures. The discussion then goes on to consider a related report co-authored by Franz and Matt examining the earnings and employment returns to different postgraduate degrees. This conversation again highlights the importance of skills and vocations that might not be highly paid but provide vital inputs into the economy and public life, and the danger of judging the value of education purely in terms of earnings.

In this episode of Policy Matters, hosts Franz Buscha and Matt Dickson talk to Nadine Smith, the Director of the Centre for Public Impact. Previous to her current role, for many years Nadine was a civil servant at the Cabinet Office, working at the centre of UK government at the intersection of policy, politics and communications. Franz and Matt begin by asking Nadine about the mission of the Centre for Public Impact and how they look to influence policymakers and improve government. The conversation considers the problems that arise when public service provision is marketised and driven by performance targets and league tables, and how systems might be redesigned to be more responsive to the needs of citizens. Nadine, Franz and Matt then go on to discuss the possibilities for greater citizen involvement in decision-making and the ways in which we could potentially introduce more deliberative democracy in the UK.

In this episode of Policy Matters, hosts Franz Buscha and Matt Dickson discuss a non-COVID-19 policy topic that has been prominent in recent months following the recent Black Lives Matter protests: the ethnic inequalities that exist in socio-economic outcomes in the UK. Examining the issue from an academic viewpoint, Franz initially explains how labour economists define discrimination and how theoretically classical economics would expect labour market discrimination on the basis of race or gender to be eliminated by market forces. Matt and Franz go on to discuss how reality clashes with this theory, setting out the extent of contemporary ethnic and gender pay inequalities and some of the issues with analysis that seeks to explain away the large differences in pay between men and women and between white workers and those of other ethnicities. The discussion continues by looking at studies directly highlighting discrimination in hiring in both the UK and the US before concluding with thoughts on what policymakers could do to address these longstanding inequalities.

In this episode of Policy Matters, hosts Matt Dickson and Franz Buscha talk to Neil Davies, Senior Research Fellow at the MRC Integrated Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol. Neil is a statistical epidemiologist so Franz and Matt begin by finding out what life has been like for an epidemiologist since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Neil then explains his recent work showing how some of the myriad statistics we’re seeing relating to coronavirus suffer from their survey design and this can generate misleading apparent relationships between COVID-19 risk and individual characteristics, such as smoking. Next Neil explains the statistical technique known as ‘Mendelian Randomisation’ which uses natural variation in our genes to help understand how health conditions and other individual characteristics impact on health and other social and economic outcomes. Matt, Franz and Neil go on to explore some of Neil’s recent research using this technique, that shows how education and intelligence impact the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, how BMI affects later outcomes, and why continuing longer in school might lead to increased costs at the opticians…

In this episode of Policy Matters, hosts Franz Buscha and Matt Dickson talk to Simon Burgess, Professor of Economics at the University of Bristol. With COVID-19 and all the policy responses to it still very much at the forefront of public policy, Franz and Matt begin by asking Simon about the likely impact of school closures on child attainment, how this may affect existing socio-economic inequalities and what policymakers could do to tackle the issue once schools settle back to ‘normal’. The additional problems of replacing GCSE and A-level exams with teacher assessments are also considered along with the difficult situation facing graduates finishing university this year. The discussion then moves on to Simon’s research into the impact of students’ effort on their educational outcomes. Simon explains how international football tournaments and school visits from Michelle Obama have provided insights into the huge effect that students’ effort can have on their results and how policymakers might harness these findings.

This episode of Policy Matters was recorded by hosts Matt Dickson and Franz Buscha from their respective homes as we all adjust to life and work during lockdown. With the global COVID-19 pandemic dominating almost all policy areas at the moment, Franz and Matt spend time discussing how different countries have tackled the outbreak and what lessons can be drawn from the more successful approaches. The discussion then moves on to the economic impacts we’ve seen already, the rationale behind the Government’s unprecedented series of economic policy interventions, and what we can learn from previous recessions about how we might get out of the one we’re now in. Next to be talked about are the likely effects of the crisis on the labour market and particularly the graduate labour market, before the discussion ends by trying to pick out some positive aspects that have emerged from the crisis so far.

In this episode of Policy Matters, hosts Matt Dickson and Franz Buscha talk to Arnaud Chevalier, Professor of Economics at Royal Holloway, University of London. Franz and Matt start by asking Arnaud about several of his projects examining how parents influence their children’s educational attainment, and in particular why the fall of the Berlin wall led to a dip in school results. The discussion then moves on to higher education, Arnaud explaining how the ethnic and linguistic mix in a classroom impacts attainment, with wider implications for managing migration. Finally, Franz and Matt talk to Arnaud about his work on the MMR vaccine crisis of the late 1990s and how education impacted the responses to public health information – very pertinent in the current worldwide coronavirus outbreak. In the midst of it all we hear Franz’s musings on a possible alternative life as a farmer…

In this episode of Policy Matters, hosts Matt Dickson and Franz Buscha talk to John Jerrim, Professor of Education and Social Statistics at the Institute of Education, University College London. Matt and Franz begin by asking John about his recent research into ‘overclaiming’ – otherwise known as ‘bullshitting’ (!) – amongst students, and how the findings give potential insights into some of the patterns of labour market outcomes we observe in the UK. John then discusses some of his cross-country comparative work and explains the ‘Great Gatsby Curve’ linking a country’s level of income inequality and degree of social mobility, and the role of education within the relationship. The programme ends with a discussion of the role of academic quantitative social scientists in informing public policy, how evidence can be mishandled, and how academic practice and the interface with policy might be improved to the benefit of all.

In this episode of Policy Matters, hosts Franz Buscha and Matt Dickson talk to… Matt Dickson and Franz Buscha! It’s been a while since we talked about the policy-relevant research that we are currently pursuing both together and individually, so in this episode we take some time to find out what is floating our research boats at the moment. Matt talks about a couple of research projects looking at the impact of education on labour market and health outcomes – using different ‘natural experiments’ to try and identify how much education actually affects these things. Franz then tells us about his recent research project on the geography of social mobility in the UK, exploring the nuanced story of social mobility differences between and within regions. The discussion concludes with consideration of recent developments in data availability and how that can benefit researchers and policymakers going forward.

In this episode of Policy Matters, hosts Franz Buscha and Matt Dickson talk to Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. Gemma was previously the economics correspondent at the Financial Times and also worked for many years as an academic economist and so has broad experience of economists’ work from a variety of angles. Firstly, Gemma discusses the work of the Institute, and how the demands that Brexit has placed on the government has hindered domestic policymaking. Given her experience as both a researcher and economic journalist, Franz and Matt go on to discuss with Gemma how economics is reported in the media, the difficulty of explaining the complexities of the economy in ‘public-friendly’ ways and what economists can learn in this area from other sciences. The discussion then turns to thinking about how economists interact with policymakers and how this has evolved over time, before Gemma talks about the policies that she would like to see considered in public and policy debate, whoever is developing the domestic policy agenda in the post-Brexit UK.