The Polycrisis: How to turn our system around – Andy Haldane on the Change Makers podcast

This week on Change Makers, Michael was joined by Andy Haldane, former Chief Economist for the Bank of England and CEO of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). 

Andy and Michael discussed our contemporary economic and social climate, which Andy described as being in a state of ‘polycrisis’ – rather than what the Collins English Dictionary described as its word of the year, ‘permacrisis’. Maintaining a fair balance of optimism and ‘Chicken Licken’ pessimism, however, he also told Michael about the “poly-solutions” that could help the UK emerge from crisis. 

“No single thing can turn our system around”, Andy said. Emphasising the importance of cross-sector solutions that focus on healthcare and education, as well as broadening the fruits of innovation. “The journey matters as much as the destination, if we turned the tide on all of these things, the benefits would be vast”, continued Andy. 

Andy also spoke about his recent move to the RSA – an “enlightenment institution” as he describes it, which is all about the regeneration of people, place and planet. By handing him a new set of tools, the RSA have provided Andy with the opportunity to “address issues that are most important right now” and affect change. 

Listen to the latest episode out now.