In a time of extraordinary technological progress, the global community faces a complex challenge known as the 'productivity puzzle.' Despite the rapid pace of innovation, many countries are seeing sluggish growth in productivity and, consequently, in living standards. At the same time, the critiques of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of progress have grown louder in the face of mounting environmental crises and ageing populations.
So, are our conventional measures of productivity inadequate? Have we reached a point where innovation alone can no longer drive sustainable growth? Is it time to rethink GDP and switch to alternative metrics to measure progress?
Join UQ economics and business alumni, staff and students for an insightful online lecture that explores these pressing questions, presented by progress and productivity expert Professor Diane Coyle from the University of Cambridge.
About the speaker – Professor Diane Coyle
Diane Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. Diane co-directs the Bennett Institute, where she heads research under the themes of progress and productivity. Her latest book, Cogs and Monsters: What Economics Is, and What It Should Be, discusses how economics needs to change to keep pace with the twenty-first century and the digital economy. She was previously Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester.
Professor Coyle is also a Director of the Productivity Institute, a Fellow of the Office for National Statistics, and an expert adviser to the National Infrastructure Commission. She has served in public service roles, including as Vice Chair of the BBC Trust and member of the Competition Commission, the Migration Advisory Committee and the Natural Capital Committee. She was awarded a DBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2023 for her invaluable contributions to economic policy and practice, as well as her unwavering commitment to public service.
About Colin Clark Memorial Lecture
The Colin Clark Memorial Lecture is our most prestigious annual event, now in its 29th year.
It is held each year to recognise Dr Colin Clark’s outstanding contribution to the field of economics. Dr Colin Clark was a UQ Economics academic whose work on national income accounting was fundamentally important to the development of macroeconomics and to the approach of John Maynard Keynes. Dr Clark's greatest contribution to economics was his pioneering role in the construction of national accounts.