We received the sad news that our great friend and colleague John Weeks died on 26th July 2020 after increasing ill health over the last few months. John was one of the founders of PEF and coordinator of the council.
John Weeks was fundamental to the creation and launch of PEF and making it a success . I approached John in January 2018 inviting him to discuss the idea of a new economics forum. He responded enthusiastically and at our first meeting it was obvious that we shared the same vision and passion as to how progressive economics could be used to change the world for the better. Our mission was to provide analysis and intellectual and practical support to enable the next government to bring progressive policies into action. We firmly opposed the madness of austerity. We saw the Labour opposition and John McDonnell as our prime focus. John had excellent contacts and an early meeting with John McDonnell following our launch at Westminster confirmed that we were on the right track.
John agreed to be the coordinator of the council and was instrumental in bringing in most of the initial members. His impeccable academic credentials gave us credibility . John attended every one of the initial planning meetings as we devised our web site and mission statement. Quite simply we could not have done it without him. Our success in the first two years was a huge source of pleasure to John who often told me how important PEF was to him
John has been PEF’s greatest supporter and ambassador. He has written more blogs for us than anyone else. He has attended every lecture and spoke at many of them as discussant or contributor. I found his thinking clear and informative on all the major issues. I always went to him to discuss our next moves and our ups and downs. His recent book The Debt Delusion has been by my side for many months. His dry wit enlivened debate and he was the source of endless quips and jokes about academics and the issues of the day
We saw that John’s health was failing him but still he managed to attend meetings and deliver the blogs. Even two months ago he willingly accepted the role of joint editor for our new book, the Return of the State. He soldiered on and took each health setback stoically. ‘Getting old is not for sissies’ he said.
I am pleased that we were able to film an interview with John about the March 2020 budget. See here . He was, as usual, crisp in his analysis and withering in his denunciation of the apparent retreat of the government from austerity.
John will be a huge loss to PEF and to us all personally – his energy, friendship, companionship, contributions to our debate , practical and moral support. I will miss him badly
PEF ‘s continued success will be an important part of his legacy