The Master’s Book Club

Professor Sharon Peacock CBE FMedSci CBE in conversation with Professor Dame Diane Coyle, author of The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters.

Hosted at Churchill College, Cambridge, by Professor Sharon Peacock, the Master’s Book Club series delves into some of the recent books published by members of the College. Wide-ranging discussions with the authors will shed new light on aspects of our past, present and future that connect with how we live today.

Join us to hear from Churchill College Fellow Prof. Dame Diane Coyle in conversation with the Master of Churchill College, Prof. Sharon Peacock, as they discuss her latest book: The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters.

The ways we measure the economy were developed in the 1940s for entirely different economic challenges. In The Measure of Progress, Diane Coyle argues that this outdated framework functions as a distorting lens on today’s digital economy. When policymakers rely on such antiquated tools, how can they understand and respond to current economic realities?

Coyle makes the case for a new framework that reflects today’s challenges: slowed growth in living standards despite remarkable innovation, the rising importance of intangible value, and strained democracies. She explains why economic statistics matter – they guide policies affecting people’s lives in ways large and small, involving questions of freedom, justice, life, and death.

“We should ALL read this important book. . . . While many of GDP’s shortcomings are well-known, Coyle sets out elegantly and compellingly why these issues have now become so numerous, and so serious, that we should rethink radically how we measure our progress.” – Kate Barker, The Society of Professional Economists

Entry is free but this is a ticketed event and booking is essential. The event will be followed by a drinks reception at 7pm.