LSE

Piroska Nagy-Mohacsi Interim Director, Institute of Global Affairs, London School of Economics and Political Science

The year 2020 may well be remembered as the biggest challenge humanity has faced since the Second World War. Indeed, in many respects it has felt like a war: unprecedented simultaneous health, economic shocks hitting every country and many lives lost. Economies and societies put on freeze in waves of lockdowns amidst what has been aptly called “radical uncertainty”. Families separated. Chaos in initial policy responses in many places and political chaos still in some. The virus is under control or even eradicated in some countries, while in others it is still spreading dangerously fast.

Yet 2020 will also be remembered as transformational. Unprecedented global scientific cooperation has brought a vaccine within reach in less than a year from when the COVID-19 genome was posted on the internet in January 2020. Under lockdowns, digital technologies, while already extensively in use, have allowed an accelerated shift in the way we work, study, shop, interact and enjoy leisure. While policy responses have varied by government, by and large, the first battle to avoid a global economic meltdown has been won. The credit goes to fiscal and monetary authorities that have stepped out of their comfort zone to deliver unprecedented support to Wall Street and Main Street in both advanced, and for the first time, in most emerging markets.

Risks still remain high and there is still much to be done to win the war. However, we can now draw on early evidence of what works and what does not in a host of areas from healthcare to education, to work and investment and what the related appropriate policy responses can be.

A key lesson is that leadership matters more than ever, and not only in government but in business and civil society as well. Another is that science and evidence matter. We are also learning that the young generation, whose economic and labour market prospects have been particularly hit by the pandemic, is eager to have its voice heard more clearly, particularly in areas where policy decisions today irreversibly impact their future. Science -informed inclusive leadership is what we need to tackle the big challenges ahead of us.

This is the context in which we at the London School of Economics and Political Science recently launched a new initiative on transformative leadership, the Maryam Forum.

We have created a unique ecosystem where renowned academics, policymakers, business leaders and our excellent LSE students work directly together on the biggest challenges of our time, organised into six work streams. At our virtual Maryam Annual Forum on 8, 9 and 10 December we will present our assessments and issue a public letter – our “Call to Action” – addressed to G7, G20 and national leaders with our research-informed policy recommendations.

In this edition, we offer a taste of the work we have been doing and the evidence we have been collecting.

We hope that our unique Maryam Forum platform will help national and international leaders to find the most optimal and sustainable policy solutions to our staggering global emergencies. ◆

Key to delivering on the Maryam Forum’s ambition of transformative leadership is a series of ‘“Co-Labs”. These year-round working groups of leading academics, policy makers, business representatives and LSE students seek to implement innovative research-based policy solutions to support the transition from rulership to leadership. In these Co-Labs, participants will work together to come up with policy and research priorities relating to six urgent challenges that the world is currently facing and that are critical to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Rethinking global finance and the international financial architecture: This Co-Lab looks at the rapidlychanging landscape of the global financial architecture. This includes the global financial safety net; the role of central banks; the changing interaction between monetary and fiscal authorities during the COVID crisis; as well as the intersection between monetary policy and financial markets in the context of current unprecedented levels of quantitative easing.

As the COVID-19 crisis continues, this Co-Lab reviews how to prepare for and respond to future global emergencies. This includes examining lessons learned from the public health and economic measures deployed during the first wave of the pandemic; reviewing the role and potential of both global and national institutions; understanding how to capture and share data; and identifying how to design and roll-out effective national policies in real time.

In the wake of the pandemic, economic policies, including industrial policy, are being rethought as part of a broader reflection on the role of the state. In parallel, global value chains are being redesigned to address health and food security concerns and to manage the risks of future disruption. These shifts come on top of already-existing changes driven by digitisation, with possibly dramatic implications for patterns of production, innovation and economic inclusion in the coming years.

Voluntary migration and forced displacement attract central attention in both popular and policy discussions. However, these debates are often shaped by political narratives that are not founded in evidence. This Co-Lab focuses on two urgent priorities: migration and labour markets, including integration and the role of cities; and public attitudes to and the politics of migration and the link to social cohesion.

This Co-Lab seeks to further build and draw attention to the investment case for ex-ante climate adaptation and resilience. Two aspects in particular are highlighted: the important financial risks of inaction; and the multi-faceted benefits of investing in natural capital.

Previously, non-democracies were defined by censorship and control over the media, while democracies guaranteed freedom of expression and the free flow of information across borders. Today, these assumptions have been turned upside down by digital technologies, and political actors can use online mobs and troll farms to drown out and intimidate critical voices and obscure truth. Against this backdrop, this Co-Lab examines whether we need a new way to define a democratic information environment, and discusses the kind of regulation and oversight that is required.

During Autumn 2020, the Co-Labs have been busy identifying the most critical questions in each area and preparing recommendations for national and global leaders. These will be unveiled during the first Maryam Annual Forum taking place on 8, 9 and 10 December 2020.