Assembly Speaker - 17 June
Robin Burgess - Professor of Economics at the LSE and Director of the International Growth Centre
CSG’s Sixth Form speaker this week was London School of Economics (LSE) professor, co-founder of the International Growth Centre, and British environmental economist Robin Burgess. He started with acknowledging his fortune in youth to have been able to grow up in numerous schools all across the world, particularly in Asia, Africa, and Europe. It was in London he completed the world-renowned International Baccalaureate (IB) programme. He went on to gain a bachelor’s degree in biology in Scotland, before transferring his master’s degree to economics at the London School of Economics, where he now teaches.
His presentation on innovation and the environment began with asking us the question, “How do you protect people from the effects of climate change?”, answering for himself, “Innovation”, and “We’re going to need a whole bunch of innovative young people to help”, he said, pointing to us. To explain this emphasis on innovation and what it meant in terms of economics and climate change, Burgess described a paper he and other LSE peers are working on, titled “Why do people stay poor?”; a depth study on poor women in Bangladesh and how very different their ‘trajectory of opportunity’ is because of where they were born and raised. The study follows a 2007-2009 program led by global NGO BRAC, in which they trialled giving livestock to the poorest Bangladeshi women to see if just a little assistance could push them over the threshold that would also push their opportunity trajectory up. The trial had a long-term impact on the welfare of these women, with income increasing, more children being able to go to school, and fewer financial struggles when floods came in and devastated harvests. Burgess finished this remarkable story with a question: “Are we in a world where we end up where we do just based on ability?” He shook his head no. “But that’s what innovation is all about. Trying to give people the same opportunity trajectories.”
The other key area of innovation Burgess highlighted was energy, “China’s greatest gift” as he put it. He and his LSE team have been studying and trying to figure out how China has managed to become so ahead of the game and produce the most solar panels in the world. “My favourite thing in the world is maps” he said, showing us a panel data set (tracking maps over time) that displayed the growth of solar panel subsidisation in Chinese cities from 2000 onwards, demonstrating the vital energy innovation that has taken place over the past twenty five years. “What effect did that have?” Burgess asked. The role of local subsidies on solar energy led to increases in patenting, increased revenues of solar companies, more solar firms, and significantly larger exports of solar panels. But with China now dominating solar energy, other fuels have been pushed out of the market. He left us wondering what the effect of this innovation may be, both on the global economy and the environment.
The Q & A that followed Burgess’s presentation involved astute questions about different energy sources, his research in Bangladesh, and the impact of politics in both of these areas. He responded with the critical tact required to impress the importance and significance of global innovation in our world today, stressing that his research in Bangladesh “convinced me something fundamental was going on”.
Burgess closed on an inspiring note, encouraging us to be innovative in whatever industries we may find ourselves in one day. It was a brilliant and eye-opening presentation - a perfect reminder of the incredible and world-changing things we can accomplish through clever innovation, in a world where we often focus on the things we have done wrong - and Camden School for Girls Sixth Form is incredibly grateful for Robin Burgess’s time.
Fiona B - Sixth Form Senior Prefect
centre stage at this year's summer
