Experts

Amit Basole teaches Development Economics and Political Economy at Azim Premji University, where he also heads the Centre for Sustainable Employment. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Prior to joining Azim Premji University he taught at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He is the lead author of State of Working India, a periodic publication on India’s labour market.

Dr Victoria Bateman is an Economist and Economic Historian, specialising in both the Industrial Revolution and Feminist Economics. She is author of two books: The Sex Factor (2019) and Markets and Growth in Early Modern Europe (2012/2016). Victoria is co-author of the Royal Economic Society’s “Report on the Status of Women in Academic Economics” (July, 2021), and has written for CapX and Bloomberg.

Bernardo is professor of FinTech History and Global Trade, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He is mainly interested in the long-term nature of technological change in retail banking. His most recent publications include “Cash and Dash: How ATMs and Computers Changed Banking” (OUP, 2018). He regularly contributes to media outlets on issues around cashless economy, FinTech, digital payments, ATMs and self-service in retail banking.

Charles Bean is Professor of Economics at LSE and Chairman of the Centre for Economic Policy Research. Between 2016 and 2021, he was the economy expert at the Office for Budget Responsibility. From 2000 to 2014, he served at the Bank of England as Chief Economist and then Deputy Governor for Monetary Policy. Before joining the Bank, he was a member of the economics faculty at LSE. He was knighted in 2014 and was President of the Royal Economic Society from 2013 to 2015. He holds a PhD from MIT.

Laia is a Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of the Centre for Innovation and Research in Wellbeing at the University of Sussex. Her research interests are in studying the pathways by which the discrimination and marginalisation of people and places lead to social and health inequalities across the life course, with a specific focus on racism and heteronormativity as systems of oppression.

Thorsten Beck is professor of banking and finance at Cass Business School and CEPR research fellow. His research and policy work have focused, among other issues, on bank resolution, macroprudential policies, SME finance, competition in banking, household access to finance and cross-border banking. He has worked as consultant for central banks and international financial institutions and has ample policy experience across advanced and emerging countries.