#17: Brexit & Covid-19: the impact on women with Vicky Pryce
Vicky Pryce is Chief Economic Adviser and a board member at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). She was previously Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, Director General for Economics at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Joint Head of the UK Government Economic Service. Before that she was Partner at the accounting and consulting firm KPMG after senior economic positions in banking and the oil sector. She has held a number of academic posts and is a Fellow and Council member of the UK Academy of Social Sciences, a Fellow of the Society of Professional Economists and a Companion of the British Academy of Management. She was until recently on the Council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and is a member of the Advisory Board of the central banking think-tank OMFIF and of the Economic Advisory Group of the British Chambers of Commerce. She is also a Patron of the charities Pro-Bono Economics and Working Chance. Her books include: “Greekonomics: The Euro crisis and Why Politicians Don't Get It”; “It's the Economy, Stupid- Economics for Voters”, with Ross and Urwin; “Redesigning Manufacturing”, with Nielsen and Beverland”; and “Why Women Need Quotas”. Her latest book, “Women vs Capitalism”, was published by Hurst in November 2019.. She is a frequent contributor to media broadcasts and debates on the economy and on the economic rationale for gender equality. She is co-founder of GoodCorporation, a company set up to advise on corporate social responsibility, is a Freeman and Liveryman of the City of London, was the first female Master of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants and has been sitting on the City’s Members Diversity Working Party. We cover the following in our conversation: What does the field of economics help us to understand? Why can't women 'have it all' in a free-market economy? What is the fallout of the pandemic on women? How is Brexit in the UK adding to this negative and detrimental impact on women? According to research, an estimated 22% of employed women in the United Kingdom could find their jobs displaced by automation by 2030. What needs to happen to ensure that these women don't get left behind? What role do you see female entrepreneurs play in driving more growth, prosperity and innovation in our economy in the UK, US and globally? We are in the midst of a massive transfer to wealth globally to women. What impact will this have on the world we live in? What needs to change to ensure we reverse these negative trends on women and accelerate change for the better? If we had more women sitting at the table, for example, making decisions in government, how much more likely is it that we would see change happen a lot more quickly? What message do you have for government and policy-makers out there in order to help correct the market failure and gender inequalities we have talked about? And what would you say to women, right now, who are having to deal with so much and are simply not getting the support they need? What should they think about?