Debate 2

At our second seminar Professor John Kay will present a paper considering how the fallout of the financial crisis has affected competition in retail financial services. The last two years have seen major structural changes to the market for financial services driven by nationalisation, state backed recapitalisation and considerable consolidation. This raises some important questions for policymakers; for example, where normal competition and state aid rules were waived, was there evidence of trade off between financial stability and full and fair competition? What balance between these two objectives delivers the greatest consumer welfare? Is the structure of the market for banking, mortgages, credit cards, investment products, general and life insurance right? If competition has been harmed, should past interventions be unravelled and distortions created by them be removed? If there is to be a future reference to competition regulators, how should this be framed? And what other interventions, if any, might be necessary?

Professor Kay, always one to challenge conventional wisdom, will present his paper to a discussion seminar in September. He will be joined by an expert panel to consider these important issues.

Download Professor John Kay’s paper.

Download a summary of the first discussion event.

Download the podcast from the first debate (9MB mp3).

John Kay is one of Britain’s leading economists. His career has spanned academic work and think tanks, business schools, company directorships, consultancies and investment companies. He is Supernumerary Fellow in Economics, St John’s College Oxford, columnist for the Financial Times and author of The Long and the Short of It and The Truth About Markets.