British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences
CAN WE EVER SAY NEVER AGAIN?
The British Academy has written a letter to Her Majesty The Queen to advise on the steps that might be taken to anticipate and prepare for any future shocks to the financial system and global economy.
Written off the back of a forum on financial and economic horizon-scanning, the letter recommends taking a more focused interest in contingency planning so that the Government is ‘readied and armed with the best intelligence’.
In July 2009, the Academy sent an initial letter to the Queen following her pertinent question asked (during a visit to the London School of Economics) on why no one had seen the credit crunch coming. Top economists and experts from the Academy discussed the question at a forum and the resulting letter sparked a worldwide debate.