This is a transcript of Professor Simon Wren-Lewis’ address from his lecture ‘The Lies We Were Told’, part of PEF’s series of public lectures on macroeconomic issues and the launch event for his book of the same name. He argues:
I want to tell a story about how an ideology called neoliberalism overreached itself, with devastating consequences for this country.
This overreach involved four big lies [about austerity, immigration, the state of the economy and Brexit] – lies that would have a profound effect on people and how they were governed. The lies were told by politicians, but the UK media would play a critical role in either promoting these lies or not challenging them, such that they came to be believed by a majority of voters.