About the Project

In February 2009, as part of a longer term inquiry, IFF ran a day long workshop to explore the global economic and financial crisis then unfolding. The aim was to get beyond the standard analysis at that time, which seemed locked in to a 'repair and continue' scenario as the only possible future.

We were interested in a number of deeper questions: Is this a crisis in economics as much as an economic crisis? Will we start to see a significant shift in societal and political values as the recession plays out? When the recovery comes, what kind of economy will recover? A range of detailed analytical materials and papers were prepared in advance (including previous IFF work on the financial system, such as the three horizons analysis that can be downloaded below).

The workshop then explored: - the economic and financial crisis as conceptual emergency - some of the assumptions the crisis is now challenging - critical uncertainties going forward and some of the economic/ social scenarios that might result The purpose of the workshop was to broaden and deepen our understanding of the crisis and to seek fresh strategic insight that might lead to more effective action. The nature of insight is that it can be both surprising and apparently obvious at the same time. And for IFF it is always hopeful - radical hope rather than false hope, based in a plausible future rather than in re-building a vanished and unsustainable past. Hence the note also records: - promising seeds of hope.

The IFF approach seeks to combine 'holism with focus' and to operate at the interface between ideas and action rather than just at an abstract level. And so the workshop also included participation from a member of the policy community in Scotland responsible for the financial services sector. He brought to the workshop a number of specific concerns which helped to provide a practical focus for our work. The workshop report - which can be downloaded below - therefore concludes with some brief observations that occurred over the course of the day: - implications for Scottish financial services and the Scottish economy This is very much work in progress for IFF. Our work on the economic and financial crisis will continue.

Partners

Scottish Enterprise

Last updated: 3 Dec 2011

Status

IFF has maintained a close interest in the unfolding financial crisis and response since 2008.

Documents for download

Click on the documents below to download them to your hard disk.

Beyond 'Repair and Continue' - workshop report Feb2009

A full report of a day-long IFF workshop assessing the financial crisis, ways in which it might play out over time, and the opportunities that might lie in the crisis for reinvention (with special reference to opportunities in Scotland in particular).

Date: 12 Nov 2011  Size: 254kB

Three Horizons of Financial Services, November 2007

A full report of a day-long IFF workshop assessing the financial crisis, ways in which it might play out over time, and the opportunities that might lie in the crisis for reinvention (with special reference to opportunities in Scotland in particular).

Date: 12 Nov 2011  Size: 287kB