Professor David Blanchflower CBE (US)

David ‘Danny’ Blanchflower is a pre-eminent British economist, specialising in the economics of people: wages, jobs and wellbeing. He is the author of Not Working - Where Have All the Good Jobs Gone?, a critical look at the gig economy, low wages and temporary contracts that make up modern work, and the social, economic and political dangers often masked by deceptively low unemployment figures. David also served on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, during which time he regularly voted with the minority – a position later proved correct during the global financial crisis.

David moved from high school teacher to university professor, spending most of his academic career in highly esteemed American institutions. He is immensely well connected on both sides of the Atlantic, and equally conversant with policy movements and personalities at the Fed, the BoE and the ECB. He is a frequent contributor on both Bloomberg and the BBC, and has also served as both a columnist for The Independent and as Economics Editor of The New Statesman.

Widely noted as the first influential person within the UK banking and financial system to raise the alarm about the credit crunch and banking crisis, David’s now hailed for his foresight, rigour and plain common sense in highlighting the flaws in the market and financial systems. He is also acknowledged for making economics understandable to the layman. 

In presentations David makes sense of the latest economic data, providing expert analysis on the decisions facing Central Bank, political and business policy makers. He also explores a number of questions at the heart of the recovery, from how best to raise living standards and encourage investment, to the problem of how to deal with future financial shocks when cutting interest rates is not a viable option.