Michael Jacobs
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Welcome

Welcome to michaeljacobs.org. Here you'll find information on my current activities and some of the things I've done in the past.

Since 2018 I have been Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Politics and International Relations and the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) at the University of Sheffield. My research focuses on the idea of a post-neoliberal 'paradigm shift' in economic theory, discourse and policy. I teach across our undergraduate and postgraduate courses. 

I am also a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), where I work principally on global development, climate and environmental finance. 

I was a co-founder of the Economic Change Unit, a small not-for-profit organisation which supports those seeking a fairer, more sustainable and more resilient economy through strategic convening, campaigning and communication. I created the ECU's new economics resource website NewEconomyBrief.net. 

From October 2016 to October 2018 I was Director of the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The Commission's Final Report, Prosperity and Justice: A Plan for the New Economy, was published in September 2018. 

My most recent book is 
Rethinking Capitalism: Economics and Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, co-edited with Mariana Mazzucato and published by Wiley Blackwell in August 2016. 

From 2010-16 I was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy at University College London, and at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics.

From 
2013-16 I was a Senior Adviser to the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate (which I helped to establish) and its New Climate Economy project. In that role I worked closely with a number of governments, international organisations and NGOs in the run-up to the UN conference on climate change in Paris in December 2015. I was a lead author of and director of strategy for the Global Commission's report Better Growth, Better Climate, published in September 2014, and directed its second report, Seizing the Global Opportunity: Partnerships for Better Growth and a Better Climate, published in July 2015. 

I was from 2012 to 2014 Co-Editor of The Political Quarterly, and remain on its editorial board. 

Prior to 2010 I was a Special Adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown (2007-10) and a member of the Council of Economic Advisers at the Treasury (2004-7). ​I was General Secretary of the Fabian Society from 1997-2003.


This site includes information on my work over the last few years on economic policy and political economy, on international and European climate change policy and energy, climate and environmental policy in the UK; my various writings on social democratic and progressive political thought; and other observations on British politics. 

It also includes my biographical details and a list of my writing and publications, recent and older.

I’m always grateful to receive feedback and comments, and information on interesting ideas and initiatives in my fields.  My
contact details are also here.  

I post occasionally on Twitter @michaelujacobs.

Michael Jacobs




Recent writing and commentary

Labour, left and right:
On party positioning and policy reasoning

(with Andrew Hindmoor)
Peer-reviewed paper
 
British Journal of Politics and International Relations  June 2022

Beyond Growth:
Towards a New Economic Approach

Report of the Advisory Group to the OECD Secretary-General
OECD  September 2020

Prosperity and Justice:
A Plan for the New Economy

The Final Report of the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice
IPPR / Polity (book) September 2018

Rethinking Capitalism: Economics and Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth
co-edited with Mariana Mazzucato
Wiley Blackwell (book) August 2016

Circuses have evolved and so must UN climate summits
Climate Home News, 5 February 2023
Published in German in
Makronom,
23 February 2023

A Keir Starmer government might be more radical than you think
Guardian, 4 January 2023

Agreement by ordeal
Inside Story, 22 November 2022
​

Keynes comes to Sharm el-Sheik
Inside Story, 16 November 2022

What exactly is the point of COP27?
Inside Story, 4 November 2022

Liz Truss dreams of growth - but even if she pulls it off, it won't help Britain
Guardian, 10 October 2022

Rishi Redux
Inside Story, 26 October 2022

The Truss effect
Inside Story, 8 October 2022

Trouble at the OECD
Inside Story, 29 September 2022

Economists' second letter to the OECD Secretary-General on the New Approaches to Economic Challenges initiative
Published 28 September 2022

This 'mini-Budget' is a naked exercise in redistributing wealth upwards
Guardian, 23 September 2022

Who is Liz Truss - and why?
Inside Story, 5 September 2022

​Thatcherite mythology: eight Tory leadership candidates in search of an economic policy 
LSE British Politics and Policy blog, 13 July 2022

​The latest Bank of England rate rise won't do much to tackle inflation - here's what could work
The Conversation, 17 June 2022

Have we reached the limits to growth?
(with Xhulia Likaj)
Project Syndicate, 18 May 2022

Green growth, degrowth or post-growth? Towards a synthetic understanding of the growth debate
(with Xhulia Likaj and Thomas Fricke)
Forum for a New Economy, 18 May 2022

Sustainable prosperity in an uncertain future: A shared agenda between green growth and degrowth
(with Jonathan Barth)
Heinrich Boell Stiftung, 18April 2022
​
Reflections on COP26:
International diplomacy, global justice and the greening of capitalism

Political Quarterly, April-June 2022

Economists' Letter to the OECD Secretary-General on the New Approaches to Economic Challenges initiative
Published 10 April 2022

​Rishi Sunak and the politics of taxation
SPERI blog, 5 April 2022

Green capitalists and green anti-capitalists are on the same side - for now
Political Quarterly blog, 14 February 2022
​
The case for a UK windfall tax on oil and gas giants is unanswerable
Guardian  11 February 2022

Why cynicism over COP26 is misplaced
Political Quarterly blog, 7 February 2022

In an act of brazen treachery, Rishi Sunak is sabotaging Johnson's policies
Guardian  ​​22 December 2021

Glasgow kiss
Inside Story  ​​15 November 2021

"System change not climate change!"
Inside Story  ​​9 November 2021

Closing the Glasgow gap 
Inside Story  ​​4 November 2021

The Glasgow paradox
Inside Story  ​​27 October 2021

Between the idea and the reality
Inside Story  ​​14 October 2021

Boris Johnson's high-stakes gamble
Inside Story  ​​29 September 2021

Western economies can't return to 'business as usual' after the pandemic
Guardian  ​31 August 2021

Keir Starmer must lean right to win? History suggests otherwise (with Andrew Hindmoor)  Guardian  ​5 May 2021

Taxes will have to rise at some point,
but right now we need the government to spend, spend, spend

Independent  ​19 July 2020

The economic disaster caused by the coronavirus will bring a record recession - we must act now
 
Independent  ​7 May 2020

Recovering better: a green, equitable and resilient recovery from coronavirus
​Briefing note for European Climate Foundation
30 March 2020


Capitalism is in crisis. And we cannot get out of it by carrying on as before 
​
Guardian  8 November 2019

Labour's Green New Deal is among the most radical in the world - but can it be done by 2030?
The Conversation  25 September 2019

The Green New Deal: easier said than done?
SPERI blog  3 July 2019

What exactly is the Green New Deal?
SPERI blog  26 June 2019

'Net zero' and the innovation-policy nexus
SPERI blog  13 June 2019

Compromise seems to be the hardest word
SPERI blog  11 April 2019

The environment act should be a sustainable economy act
Green Alliance blog  11 October 2018

Hard-wiring the economy for justice
Renewal interview  5 October 2018

Corporate fat cats are abusing their power
​UnHerd  28 September 2018

Paradigm shifts in economic theory and policy
(with Laurie Laybourn-Langton)
Intereconomics  May-June 2018

Prosperity and justice: shaking up the economy for social change
Reasons to be cheerful podcast
24 September 2018

A more active state is essential to a new economy
New Statesman  5 September 2018

Only revolutionary new laws can stop Brexit harming the environment
Guardian  3 April 2018

Industrial strategy: steering structural change in the UK economy
(with Izzy Hatfield, Loren King, Luke Raikes and Alfie Stirling)
IPPR Commission on Economic Justice
discussion paper
  November 2017


Commentary on Rethinking Capitalism and the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice
Podcast, Spectator, 26 April 2018
Podcast, UnHerd, 16 March 2018
Video, In conversation with Martin Wolf and Mariana Mazzucato  14 Nov 2017
Podcast, IPPR  20 Sept 2017

The Briefing Room, BBC Radio 4  12 Oct 2017
Today [8.54am], BBC Radio 4  29 Sept 2017
Video and
Blogs, APPG on Inclusive Growth
  20 Sept 2017

​Today [6.23am], BBC Radio 4  6 Sept 2017

Why this white paper on industrial ​strategy is good news (mostly)
Guardian  27 November 2017

Changing direction: how industrial strategy can help remake the UK economy
IPPR and PrimeEconomics blog 17 November 2017

Why has the Bank of England raised interest rates? It ran out of options
Guardian  2 November 2017

Time for a paradigm shift
PrimeEconomics blog  29 October 2017

Moving beyond neoliberalism:
an assessment of the economic systems
change movement in the UK 

(with Laurie Laybourn-Langton)
Friends Provident Foundation report
October 2017

Time for change: A new vision for the British economy
The Interim Report of the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice
IPPR  September 2017
​
Five lessons learned from the general election
IPPR blog  14 June 2017

The industrial strategy acknowledges a fundamental truth about growth
New Statesman  23 January 2017

Letters in the Guardian and Financial Times
1 January and 5 January 2017

Out of shape: taking the pulse of the UK economy
(with Alfie Stirling and Catherine Colebrook)
Institute for Public Policy Research report 
November 2016


The Autumn Statement is just the start of rebuilding our economy
New Statesman  18 November 2016

If Theresa May is serious about inequality she'll ditch Osbornomics
Guardian  19 July 2016

Don't panic, Brexit doesn't have to spell gloom for the environment
Guardian  30 June 2016

Energy companies are cheaper and cleaner when run by the council 
Guardian  3 June 2016

George Osborne will soon be forced to chow his hand on climate change
Guardian  17 March 2016

High pressure for low emissions: How civil society created the Paris climate agreement
Juncture  14 March  2016
(also published by 
Inside Story  23 March  2016)

The Paris Agreement is
highly ambitious and very clever

Grantham Research Institute blog 
18 December 2015
(also as a Green Alliance blog  21 December 2015)

Paris is a pragmatic climate deal
New Scientist interview  15 December 2015

The Carbon Brief Interview
Carbon Brief   19 October 2015

The world's climate pledges are impressive - but still not enough  Guardian  16 October 2015

Ensuring new infrastructure is climate-smart  New Climate Economy Working Paper 
October  2015

Reflections on the latest report of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate
Grantham Research Institute blog  8 July 2015

Seizing the global opportunity: partnerships for better growth and a better climate [lead author] 
The second New Climate Economy report
July 2015 

The prospects for Paris 2015
New Statesman  6 January 2015

Lima deal represents fundamental change in global climate regime
Guardian  15 December 2014
(also in Project Syndicate  15 December 2014)

Emissions targets are biggest challenge for Lima climate talks
Guardian  2 December 2014

Five ways Ban Ki-Moon's summit has changed international climate politics forever

Guardian
  24 September 2014

New Climate Economy: it's not just another report
Responding to Climate Change

16 September 2014

Better Growth, Better Climate
[co-lead author]
The New Climate Economy report

September 2014

The climate change agenda heats up
Project Syndicate  7 March 2014

A new politics: why we need collaboration between the Greens
and Labour

Resurgence  Nov-Dec 2013
(also published here)

Making sense of Snowden
Political Quarterly blog  17 October 2013

Reflections on One Nation Labour
Political Quarterly blog  22 September 2013

Housing, places and people: labour and the fifth wave of social environmentalism
Essay in Green Social Democracy: Better Homes in Better Places, ed Matthew Spencer et al, Green Alliance September 2013

Explaining radical policy change: the case of climate change and energy policy under the British Labour Government 2006-10
​
(with Neil Carter)
Public Administration  August 2013

Tax and spending (again)
Political Quarterly blog  8 May 2013 and
LSE Politics and Policy blog  14 May 2013

Beyond the social market: rethinking capitalism and public policy
Political Quarterly  March 2013

Green growth
Chapter in The Handbook of Global Climate and Environment Policy, ed Robert Falkner
Wiley 2013 (also published here)

Osborne's anti-green agenda is strangling growth 
New Statesman  12 March 2013
and Political Quarterly blog  25 March 2013

Gove is all around: exams, public services and EU competition law
  Political Quarterly blog  12 February 2013

Green social democracy
Fabian Review  Winter 2012  (reprinted by the New Statesman  18 January 2013)

Healthy tensions in the machinery of power
Letter to The Times  17 January 2013 (reprinted here)

The politics of place and the greening of Labour
In One Nation Labour - Debating the Future ed Jon Cruddas, Labour List e-book  January 2013 (and Labour List  12 November 2012)

Environmental and climate change policy: a case study in preventative action
Prevention Working Paper
New Economics Foundation
January 2013

Economie verte: mefions-nous des marchands de doute
Les Echos  4 January 2013 

Atheism, faith and promoting ethical values
Letter in Guardian  19 December 2012

The Doha climate change talks were a start, but 2015 will be the moment of truth
Guardian  10 December 2012

A low carbon future is the one we must all fight for
Guardian  2 December 2012

Politics and the planet
Political Quarterly Commentary
December 2012  (reprinted here)

The problem at No 10 
Political Quarterly blog  21 November 2012

Less pain, more gain: the potential of carbon pricing to reduce Europe's fiscal deficits
  Grantham Research Institute Policy Paper London School of Economics
  November 2012

Obama's victory: Non-lessons for Britain
Political Quarterly blog  7 November 2012

Green growth: economic theory and political discourse
  Grantham Research Institute Working Paper London School of Economics  October 2012

The Coalition's energy policy
Guardian and Political Quarterly blog 
18 October 2012

Economic prospects
Political Quarterly blog  11 October 2012

Ed Miliband's bravura performance
Political Quarterly blog  4 October 2012

The potential role for carbon pricing in reducing European deficits
(with Hector Pollitt et al)  Global Policy
  18 September 2012

What is the state of international climate change talks?  Guardian  17 September 2012

Special advisers: part of the constitution The House Magazine  12 July 2012  (reprinted here)

Oral and written evidence given to the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee Enquiry on the role of Special Advisers
29 May / 12 June 2012

Oral evidence given to the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee Enquiry on 'The road to UNFCCC COP18 and beyond' 
22 May 2012



In an act of brazen treachery, Rishi Sunak is sabotaging Boris Johnson’s policies

Speaking events

Ideas and Power: Reflections on Politics, Environmental Crisis and Economic Paradigm Shifts
Inaugural Lecture
SPERI, University of Sheffield
 
22 May 2019

Understanding green economics
Guardian Masterclass
13 March 2023

How the economy works: a beginners guide
Guardian Masterclass
28 November 2022

Fifty years after The Limits to Growth: the report and its impact in retrospect
Forum for a New Economy conference, Berlin
30 August 2022

Industrial strategy or industrial decline? and The end of economic growth?
Progressive Economy Forum conference, 11 June 2022

Transforming Europe: the Green Deal in a new context
Finanzwende Recherche and Heinrich Böll Foundation conference, Berlin
3-4 May 2022

Climate justice and capitalism: system change v pocket change
Festival of Debate public event
26 April 2022

Net zero and levelling up
Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission online public event
16 March 2022
​
Is it time for a windfall tax?
Chartered Institute of Taxation and Institute for Fiscal Studies webinar
1 March 2022

The politics of the climate crisis
Orwell Youth Prize talk
5 January 2022
​
Beyond COP26: The political economy of net zero
University of Sheffield public event ESRC Festival of Social Science
17 November 2021

What just happened at COP26?
The Mint webinar
15 November 2021

COP26 and the political economy of climate change
UCL Policy and Practice seminar
15 October 2021

What is COP26 and how does it work? 
Sheffield Green Party (video)
25 September 2021

Economic growth and environmental sustainability
Cambridge Journal of Economics conference
9 September 2021
​
The role of the state in the post-Covid 21st century
Karl Polanyi Conference
22 April 2021

Beyond growth: towards a new economic approach
Heinrich Boell Stiftung public meeting
15 February 2021

Doughnut economics: discussant to Kate Raworth 
LSE Development Thinking and Practice seminar
12 February 2021

Crisis and recovery: the left's economic alternative
Fabian Society conference
16 January 2021

Doughnut economics: research-based reflections
Deloitte seminar
Copenhagen
8 December 2020

How a green stimulus plan can kickstart the new growth story
China-UK-EU Climate Dialogue
30 March 2020

Can capitalism be reformed?
SPERI conference
'Beyond the Crisis? Global Capitalism in the 2020s'
  8 November 2019

Rethinking capitalism
Cafe Culture, Newcastle
  5 November 2019
Surrey Compass and Fabian Society, University of Surrey
14 October 2019

Growth and beyond: towards a new economic approach
OECD Conference
'Averting Systemic Collapse'
Paris, 17-18 September 2019

​About the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice
APPG on Inclusive Growth
Parliament, 15 November 2018
Centre for Progressive Policy
London, 30 October 2018
Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP) London, 24 October 2018
Labour Party Conference 
Liverpool, 23 September 2018
Ten years after Lehman Bros: what have we learned?
OECD conference
​
Paris, 14 September 2018 
APPG on Inclusive Growth
Parliament, 11 September 2018

Global Finance 101
The World Transformed
Liverpool, 22 September 2018

Innovazione e sviluppo sostenibile
Trento Festival of Economics
2 June 2018

​Paradigm shifts in economic thought and policy
Presentation to the OECD (video)
Paris, 29 January 2018 

Growth, degrowth and prosperity: can we reconcile alternative worldviews?
Institute for Global Prosperity, UCL  14 December 2017

Green economy ovvero il futuro sostenibile
Festival Economia Come, Rome
19 November 2017

Moving beyond neoliberalism​
INET Young Scholars Initiative Festival of New Economic Thinking, Edinburgh
19 October 2017

Rethinking capitalism
public lectures

LSE public lecture - podcast
30 November 2016
Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute - video
16 November 2016

IPPR Commission on Economic Justice events
School of Public Policy, UCL
7 December 2017
​Goldsmith's College
11 October 2017
IPPR public meeting
13 September 2017
Parliamentary briefing
 12 September 2017
Launch of the Interim Report
7 September 2017

Rethinking capitalism
seminars

Political Economy Research Centre, Goldsmith's College London - video
​ 15 March 2017
Overseas Development
Institute - video

27 February 2017
​
University of Manchester Political Economy Institute
​
26 October 2016
School of Public Policy, University College London
13 October 2016

SPRU, IDS and School of Global Studies, University of Sussex
12 October 2016​
Political Quarterly
22 September 2016

Brexit: environment and climate change
Oral evidence to the House of Lords EU Select Committee
9 November 2016

The implications of Brexit for UK climate and environmental policy
Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership Annual Conference
30 June 2016

Environmental challenges for urban transport
Intermodal 2016 conference
21 June 2016

Environmental challenges and priorities for the new Mayoralty
Oral evidence to the London Assembly Environment Committee
16 June 2016

We'll always have Paris: COP21 and the new political economy of climate change
London School of Economics public lecture 
18 February 2016


COP21: Next steps for UK climate and energy policy
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Renewable and Sustainable Energy
10 February 2016


We'll always have Paris: how COP21 produced a new international agreement on climate change
UCL School of Public Policy seminar
21 January 2016 

The path from Paris: The new global politics of climate change
Royal Geographical Society lecture 11 January and 27 April 2016

Prospects for Paris
Environmental Industries Commission Annual Conference
19 November 2015

Opportunities beyond INDCs
INDC Forum, Rabat, Morocco
12 October 2015


Crunchtime in Paris: the political economy of a new climate change agreement
School of Economics, University of Nottingham
1 October 2015

Climate change policy after Paris: the research challenge
Tyndall Centre Assembly, University of Sussex
9 September 2015


Keynote presentation on the New Climate Economy
Forum Mondial Convergences, Paris
8 September 2015

What the new government holds for sustainable business and the environment
Green Alliance workshop
27 May 2015

The politics of green transformations
STEPS Centre, University of Sussex book launch
24 February 2015

The politics of climate change: parties, elections and climate leadership
Universities of York and Keele ESRC project seminar
30 January 2015

2015 and beyond
Fabian Society New Year Conference
17 January 2015

The EU 2030 climate and energy package
Green Growth Summit, Brussels
3 March 2014

The time is now: towards a global climate agreement in 2015
London Climate Forum
9 November 2013


Green Labour
Fabian Summer Conference
6 July 2013  More

Capitalism, carbon and climate change
STEPS Centre Summer School keynote, University of Sussex
13 May 2013  More

Making climate diplomacy work
CDKN / E3G event
22 April 2013  More

The social market and its discontents - analysing capitalism and public policy
Political Quarterly seminar
15 April 2013  More

Why study history in the global 21st century?
History & Policy panel
20 February 2013

Green Labour and a popular environmentalism
Labour Policy Review seminar 22 January 2013  More

Climate change: science, economics, politics
Address to European Climate Foundation seminar
11 December 2012

In the thick of it: what do special advisers do - and does it make government better or worse?
UCL Constitution Unit seminar
  22 November 2012

The wisdom of prevention: the challenge of implementing environmental policy 
New Economics Foundation seminar  1 November 2012 More

The 1974-79 Labour government
Platform discussion with Dominic Sandbrook
National Theatre
  19 October 2012  More

The future of green politics
Talk and debate with Roger Scruton and Caroline Lucas 
Green House Conference
  13 October 2012  More

Ed Miliband's speech: the reaction
Fabian fringe meeting, Labour Party Conference
  2 October 2012  More

The progressive moment: the crises of capitalism and the greening of social democracy
Public lecture, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University
17 May 2012  More



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