Lord Stern of Brentford: The Minister sees virtue in flexibility in monetary policy. Will he comment on the virtue of flexibility in fiscal policy?
Lord Stern of Brentford: My Lords, I begin by thanking the noble Lord, Lord MacGregor, and his committee for their interesting and important report, and I thank the noble Lord for his thoughtful introduction. I declare an interest and an involvement. For more than 40 years, I worked as an academic economist on development issues. I have been directly involved in decision-making in the Africa and Asia committees of...
Lord Stern of Brentford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the outcomes at the recent Rio+20 conference and the contribution made by the United Kingdom Government.
Lord Stern of Brentford: I thank the Minister for his Answer. I certainly welcome the Rio commitment to develop sustainable development goals and the Prime Minister's involvement in that work. However, does the Minister agree that the facts indicate that now is the time for strong action if we are to avoid severe threats to the lives and livelihoods of future generations, particularly of the poorest among them? Does...
Lord Stern of Brentford: My Lords, I join other speakers in thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, for raising this vital issue. In my remarks, I shall draw on my experience as a professor of economics at the London School of Economics, my work on development issues for four decades, and my experience as chief economist of the World Bank. Let us be clear at the outset on one key practical and conceptual...
Lord Stern of Brentford: My Lords, would the Minister agree that conflict and insecurity are deeply damaging for both human rights and environmental protection, and that the level of conflict and insecurity in Colombia over the past 10 years has been dramatically lower than in the preceding 40 or 50? Would he also allow me to observe that President Santos is an alumnus of the LSE? I chaired his presentation to the...
Lord Stern of Brentford: My Lords-
Lord Stern of Brentford: Would the Minister agree that we are fortunate that the Bank of England has taken account of the fragility of output and employment in the UK economy, and will he assure us that the Government will also take account of that fragility in setting their own policy?
Lord Stern of Brentford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the appointment procedures for the heads of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Lord Stern of Brentford: I thank the Minister for his Answer and I declare an interest as a former chief economist and senior vice-president of the World Bank. Does the Minister agree with the assessment that the system of reservation-because that is what it is-of headships of the IMF and the World Bank for Europe and the United States respectively is outdated, unacceptable in the modern world and deeply resented by...
Lord Stern of Brentford: My Lords, many of the challenges we face in the world economy in the coming years are structural and profound. These include high public deficits in some countries and major imbalances in savings and investments with correspondingly large external surpluses or deficits in key economies of the world. Both can feed, and have fed, instability. Over this decade, we will continue to see...
Lord Stern of Brentford: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Stone, for initiating this debate. I was at Copenhagen for the second week of the conference. I was there as an independent, as a professor at the London School of Economics and as chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, and I was working very closely with Governments from...
Lord Stern of Brentford: My Lords, I warmly welcome the report of the Committee on Climate Change and I thank noble Lords who have made kind comments about the Stern review. The climate change committee is doing its job. It is charting a path and is holding the Government to account. It is doing that, as can be seen in its recent progress report, with a clarity and quality of analysis that we should warmly welcome....
Lord Stern of Brentford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what they are doing to support the efforts of developing countries to shape an effective and equitable global agreement on climate change.
Lord Stern of Brentford: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his reply. I trust he will agree that the poor countries, and the poorest people in the poor countries, will be hit the earliest and the hardest by climate change. Indeed, they are already being hit. They are the least responsible for the big rise in concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the past half-century. Thus, while we all...
Lord Stern of Brentford: My Lords, I should declare an interest in that I advise HSBC and the IDEAglobal Group on emissions reductions and carbon markets. I should also apologise to the House because I have not been able to intervene on this subject before. It is difficult to find moments when one can give a maiden speech. My noble friend Lady Afshar and I found such a moment about three weeks ago with a debate on...
Lord Stern of Brentford: My Lords, it is a great privilege to speak for the first time in this House. I thank the noble Baroness the Lord Speaker, my noble friend Lady D'Souza and the many noble Lords who have so kindly both welcomed me and guided me on the ways of this House, as have the excellent staff of this House. Having worked as an economist in academic life, in the World Bank, in the European Bank for...
