Professor John Kay and Lord Mervyn King discuss the main concepts from their new book “Radical Uncertainty”

Moderated by Vicky Pryce

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Rarely is a book’s publication as well-timed as John Kay and Mervyn King’s “Radical Uncertainty: Decision-Making Beyond the Numbers.” We’re in the grip of a global pandemic that we don’t understand and must make immediate choices that balance the demands of our health against the needs of our economy.

The main advice to emerge from this book is: Don’t ask an economist.

Joseph C Sternberg in the Wall Street Journal

The authors of this book belong to the elite of British economic policymaking. John Kay has held some of the UK’s leading academic, think-tank and advisory positions. Mervyn King completed a long career at the Bank of England by serving as its governor for 10 years, spanning the global financial crisis.

Forty years after they first wrote a book together, they have joined forces again to produce a rant. An eloquent, highbrow, entertaining and enlightening rant, but a rant all the same. The authors’ bugbear is the standard approach to uncertainty in economics and related disciplines, which requires a comprehensive list of possible outcomes with well-defined numerical probabilities attached.

Martin Sandbu in the Financial Times