Could we shape the social contract to improve collective welfare?
A generation ago, the ‘Washington Consensus’ emphasised the need for growth-promoting economic reforms. However, it neglected the social and institutional underpinnings necessary not only for achieving sustained economic growth, but for building fairer and more cohesive societies.
LSE is uniquely placed to provide trusted guidance to policymakers. Focusing on the twin goals of renewing the social contract and reimagining the state, and drawing on the research and skills of a broad set of LSE scholars, the London Consensus will be built around the coalescence of new ideas and hopefully become a guide for leaders and policymakers, providing practical solutions at local, national, regional, and global levels.
Alumnus Mario Francescotti and his wife Valerie have generously pledged £500,000 to encourage and support the work of Professor Andrés Velasco, Professor Tim Besley and Professor Ricky Burdett, in research and exploration of this renewed social contract, in the hope that others will also support this worthy cause.
We are delighted to make a small contribution to the building of new ideas around the London Consensus. We need new thought leadership and potential ways of achieving equal opportunity – new social contracts. As Baroness Minouche Shafik notes in her recent book ‘What we owe each other’, there has to be equality of lifelong opportunity