Why Politics Is All About Economics Not Culture
Webinar
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It is currently fashionable to say that politics is now all about culture rather than economics. That transitioning sex matters more than transitioning nature of economies. That whether Brexit matters to you emotionally matters more than what its practical impacts are. And so on. However, this conventional wisdom is wrong. Younger people do feel different on many cultural issues, but this is largely downstream of the economic changes to their lives, not upstream of them. The most significant things that are changing younger people’s attitudes (all over the Western world) are being driven by their economic experience since the financial crisis, and the lack of the political and economic establishment to address their problems; combined with a heavy dose of social media which makes the change seem much faster.
Speaker:
Bim Afolami was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Hitchin and Harpenden in 2017 and was re-elected in 2019. Prior to entering Parliament, he spent ten years in the City of London; first as a corporate lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, then moving into banking in restructuring and strategy as a Senior Executive (Vice President) at HSBC. Through this Bim helped to advise some of the biggest companies in the world, both British and international. In Parliament Bim is the Chair of several cross-Party groups, including the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Renewable and Sustainable Energy and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Financial Markets & Services, a former PPS to three Cabinet ministers, and Conservative Vice Chairman. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, trustee of several charities (particularly focused on creating opportunities for young people) and is fascinated by books and historical figures. He is the father to three little boys and husband to Henrietta.
Speaker(s):
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Bim Afolami
Member of Parliament,
Hitchin and Harpenden
Chairman:
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Professor Michael Mainelli
Chairman
Z/Yen Group