The Transformative Power of Productivity

Productivity growth fuels economic progress and empowers businesses to thrive. However, for almost two decades productivity growth has been slowing. This is even more striking as we have access to technologies and innovations which could potentially improve the trajectory of growth.

In three short lectures, Honorary Professors Tera Allas, Catherine Mann and Anthony Venables explore how productivity can fundamentally alter our path of economic progress and business success.

Tera Allas: Is AI the answer to our flagging productivity growth?
Catherine Mann: How High is the Hurdle for UK Business Investment?
Tony Venables: Policy for transformative change.

Speakers:

Professor Tera Allas CBE is the Director of Research and Economics in McKinsey & Company’s United Kingdom and Ireland office and leads McKinsey’s research on the macroeconomic outlook, growth, and productivity. She was previously Deputy Head of the UK Government Economic Service and brings together more than three decades of experience in strategy, corporate finance, economics, and public policy. Tera also serves as Chair of The Productivity Institute’s Advisory Committee and a Trustee of Be the Business, a charity that delivers productivity research and improvement in small businesses.

Professor Catherine L. Mann is an external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, a former global chief economist at Citibank, a chief economist at the OECD, and has previously held academic, think tank, and policy positions. Her research focuses on international economic issues encompassing trade, finance, climate, productivity, and inequality. She also leads the Finance, Investment and Productivity Research Programme at The Productivity Institute.

Professor Anthony Venables is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Economics at the University of Oxford, where he was previously BP Professor of Economics. He has published extensively in international trade and spatial economics, including work on trade and imperfect competition, economic integration, multinational firms, and economic geography. From 2020 to 2022, he held the position of Research Director at The Productivity Institute.

Vital Topics

Vital Topics is Alliance MBS' series of prestigious business lectures, bringing powerful ideas and original thinking to audiences from the Manchester city-region and beyond.

Find out more about Vital Topics here.

This event is hosted in conjunction with The Productivity Institute

There will be refreshments served after the event at AMBS.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Alliance Manchester Business School, Booth Street West, Manchester, United Kingdom