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THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY
After the Crash: Restoring Economic
Growth
Quoting Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s
former Chief of Staff, who said ‘you never
want to let a serious crisis go to waste’, Tracy
Corrigan (1982, Modern Languages) chaired a
wide-ranging discussion on the opportunities
presented by the need to ‘rescue the global
financial system from systemic collapse’.
Office for Fair Trading Chief Executive Clive
Maxwell (1989, Geography) examined the
relationship between the financial industry
and the ‘real economy’, while Financial
Times’ journalist Paul Betts (1966, Modern
Languages) argued for investment in
manufacturing as a way of stimulating
growth.
An international appraisal on ways of
furthering economic growth was offered by
Martin Heipertz (1997, PPE), who serves as
Private Secretary in the German Finance
Ministry. Martin proposed a number of
systemic reforms in order to shore up
the Eurozone.
Renewable Energies in a Green
Economy: Defining Developments
Honorary Fellow Lord Stern, author
of the seminal Stern Review on the
Economics of Climate Change, opened
a lively session which addressed
the urgency of the ‘immense challenges’
presented by global warming. Calling for a
considerable reduction in CO2 emissions,
Lord Stern’s view of an ‘energy industrial
revolution’ was echoed by Erica Hope (2001,
Human Sciences), a senior policy officer at
Climate Action Network Europe, an EU-based
campaign organisation. Erica highlighted the
urgent need for national policy-makers to
promote greater energy efficiency.
Former BP Alternative Energy CEO Vivienne
Cox (1977, Chemistry) spoke encouragingly
of the potential of the renewable energies
sector to develop alternative sources of
energy, and the investment being made in
green energy technologies across the world.
Optimism about green energy’s potential
was furthered by Steve Groves (1985,
Engineering), who is responsible for the
development of Nissan’s LEAF, the world’s
first mass-market electric car.
On Stage & Screen: Defining Moments in
Entertainment Since 1962
Through its proud association with the
Cameron Mackintosh Chair of Contemporary
Theatre, entertainment has always played an
important part in the life of the College. Our
final panel, chaired by Guardian stage critic,
Michael Billington (1957, English) sought to
trace the changing trends in entertainment in
Britain over the past five decades.
Michael and Libby Purves discussed the
‘transition of power’ from the commercial to
the subsidised theatre as being an over-arching
theme of those fifty years, while Emeritus
Fellow Thelma Holt charted the changing
nature of censorship and the influences of
foreign theatre on the British stage. The
relationship between television and society was
considered by Sara Ramsden (1978, Human
Sciences), who examined TV schedules since
1962 to map the development of the medium.
Lively discussion followed on the value and
variety of modern entertainment. n
Photos by Guy Bell (www.gbphotos.com)
ST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE 2012/31