External Forces and Trends
Economic Review
DIGITAL BRIEFING ONLY
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?
For many years now there has been a feeling that the global economy has been stuck in second gear. A quick glance at the titles of the IMF’s quarterly World Economic Outlook reveals a sense of an economy on the verge of recovery but never quite achieving escape velocity. ‘A Rocky Recovery’, ‘Steady but Slow’ and ‘A Sticky Spot’ show the persistence of what The Financial Times dubbed ‘synchronised stagnation’ before the Covid pandemic. Disappointingly, after a rapid post-pandemic recovery, most of the world’s economies appear to have reverted to type and resumed the slow trajectory of the 2010s.
Given the challenges facing the world over the second half of the 2020s, this is not a good time for its major economies to slip into semi-retirement; or for any of us to close our minds to the impact of global economics on our organisations.
All of which raises a series of critical questions:
- How far will geopolitical volatility continue to disrupt global trade?
- Will the investment needed for Net Zero act as a stimulus or a drag on economic growth?
- Will technology-driven productivity offset the shrinking working-age population?
- And if it doesn’t, where will we find the workers to ‘do’ the Net Zero transition?
Important questions that will be actively considered during this session.
EVENT CONTENT
While we may not have definitive answers, PARC’s annual economic review will provide us with insights and reflections on the economic outcomes of 2025 and an appraisal of what we can expect in 2026 and beyond.
What can be predicted at the time our programme is published is that there will be ongoing ambiguity and precariousness; set in the context of changing national governments and posturing between global powers. Some of the which will have been laid out in January’s political and geopolitical review.
ANYTHING ELSE?
To provide us with some clarity on what will continue to be an ambiguous picture, our speaker is a respected economist with a broad global perspective who will guide us through the likely economic developments of the mid to late 2020s.
SPEAKER
Liam Halligan
Economist, Journalist, Author, Broadcaster
Liam Halligan is an economist, journalist, author and broadcaster – who also has extensive business experience. He is best known for his weekly ‘Economics Agenda’ column in The Sunday Telegraph – which enjoys a large international following and has been recognised with a highly-coveted British Press Award.
Liam is also Editor-at-Large at Business New Europe/Intellinews – a leading source of English-language business, economics and political news and analysis covering 30 countries in Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe and the Former Soviet Union.
Liam has worked as a Moscow Reporter for The Economist and Economist Intelligence Unit, Political Correspondent for The Financial Times (based in Parliament) and for a decade led the economics and business coverage at Channel 4 News. He continues to research, write and present hard-hitting Dispatches documentaries on economic and financial issues for Channel 4.
Liam frequently appears on flagship programmes such as Question Time and Any Questions and is a regular commentator on economic and political affairs for the BBC, CNN, Sky, LBC Radio and other broadcasting outlets,
He also writes for The Spectator and other leading publications. His latest book – Home Truths: the UK’s chronic housing shortage, published by Biteback in 2021, was described by The Times as “vivid and lucid, and brilliantly-written gem” and by the housing charity Shelter as “full of eloquence and moral clarity – a call to arms”.
