This July I am co-curating a summit on the theme of Progress, entitled The Great Stagnation summit, which will be a two-day gathering in Cambridge (England) to examine the current state of thinking around progress, industrial strategy, innovation and R&D and how to devise and deliver policies for long-term growth, radical improvements in living standards, and continued human flourishing. This is of course a key current theme between the debates about decline, and growth and its externalities.
I am co-programming and -producing the summit for a new organisation which was established to address the current situation with public service and in public life. It aims to identify and encourage talented people to go into public life, and help prepare them to tackle the moral, technological, and governance challenges of our time.
Our keynote speaker is George Mason University Professor of Economics Tyler Cowen, from whose 2011 book the event takes its inspiration and name: The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All The Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better.
We are keen to involve a wide range of people who are interested in these themes, and in how they can be debated and acted upon in the public realm. Our audience includes, but is not limited to: policy-makers and politicians; academics and authors; economists; entrepreneurs and innovators; scientists and researchers; and practitioners and opinion formers. We also want to involve students and early career professionals. And, of course, people from across the political spectrum.
If you are interested in the theme of Progress and the ideas behind the summit, and perhaps want to get involved or participate, please do get in touch. As we develop the event, I will be posting more updates tagged #CFProgressSummit