The Reith Lectures 2020

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The Reith Lectures

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Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series.

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The Reith Lectures: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value: From Covid Crisis to Renaissance

Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Covid Crisis to Renaissance

BBC Radio 4 - The Reith Lectures, Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value, From Covid Crisis to Renaissance

Mark Carney looks at the tensions between economic and human values during the pandemic.

Mark Carney looks at the tensions between economic and human values during the Covid crisis. Can human life be assigned a monetary value? How do different states calculate that?

Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, observes that the pandemic has forced states to confront how we value health, wealth and opportunity. During the first few months of the crisis, most states chose to value human life more than the economic well-being of the nation-state. But if that seems to be changing how do we assess value in this sense? 

Dr Carney elucidates surprising differences in the financial value put on a human life in different nations – and goes on to argue that this reductionist approach fails to take into account deeper thinking about the worth of human existence.

Presenter: Anita Anand
Producer: Jim Frank 
Editor: Hugh Levinson

The Reith Lectures: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

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Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Mark Carney charts how we have come to esteem financial value over human value.

Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England, argues that changing attitudes to value and the marketplace have contributed to a trio of crises: credit, Covid and climate.

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The Reith Lectures

Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Covid Crisis to Renaissance

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