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ERC Members can reserve their free place by emailing us on info@nullercouncil.org .

In association with KPMG, the Economic Research Council is running its eighth annual Clash of the Titans economic forecasting event, which brings together three thought-leaders in economics in the UK. The Clash of the Titans is an unrivalled opportunity to hear economic experts detail their predictions for 2019.  The winners of this year’s competition from our professional forecasters as well as the public will be announced. Attendees are invited to enter the forecasting competition at the event.Titans each predict figures for GDP growth, inflation, unemployment, earnings growth and interest rates, as well as a Black Swan’ event which could upset their forecasts. The event is quite gladiatorial and fun- the audience and others then enter their own predictions and everyone competes over the following year, with the winning titan and leading public entrant crowned at the event.

Melanie Baker – Senior Economist, Royal London Asset Management

Melanie Baker is RLAM’s Senior Economist with over 18 years’ experience in the financial sector. She started her career at Morgan Stanley where she was an economist analysing currencies. She was Senior UK Economist at Morgan Stanley and analysed the UK economy and political risk events for more than a decade. Her period covering the UK included the aftermath of the financial crisis, Scotland’s Independence referendum and Brexit. She is a CFA charterholder and is also a Trustee of a local charity providing community childcare. She attended Edinburgh University and has a master’s degree in Economics from University College London.

Professor Jagjit Chadha – Director, National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Jagjit Chadha is the Director of NIESR and an expert on financial markets and monetary policy, as well as aspects of monetary and financial history. He has written widely on the design of monetary, fiscal and financial policies. His main research interests are developing the links between finance and macroeconomics in general equilibrium models and has published widely in economics journals.  He is also editor of the Cambridge University Press series on economics, Modern Macroeconomic Policymaking and an associate editor of several journals.  He has recently published a book on Developments in Macro-Finance Yield Curve Modelling by Cambridge University Press and a number of papers related to the impact of quantitative easing on financial market prices. He is Professor of Economics at the University of Kent, and also part-time Professor of Economics at Cambridge. He was previously Professor of Economics at the University of St Andrews and Fellow at Clare College, Cambridge. He has worked at the Bank of England as an Official working on Monetary Policy and as Chief Quantitative Economist at BNP Paribas, and has served as Chair of the Money, Macro, Finance Study Group. He has also acted as Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Committee and academic adviser to both the Bank of England and HM Treasury, and to many central banks as well as the Bank for International Settlements, and held the post of Gresham Professor of Commerce from 2014-2018.

Dr Adrian Paul – Chief UK Economist, Goldman Sachs

Adrian Paul is an economist in the European Economics team. He first joined Goldman Sachs as an economist in 2009 and rejoined the firm after leaving in 2012 to return to university. Adrian received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Oxford, having completed an M.Phil. in Economics in 2014. During his doctoral studies, he was a Lecturer in Economics at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford. Adrian earned an M.Sc. in Finance from the London School of Economics, and an M.A. and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Cambridge.

Our host for the evening is Yael Selfin, Chief Economist at KPMG.

Yael is Chief Economist at KPMG in the UK. Her research centres on the impact major issues including Brexit and other geopolitical events are likely to have on the economy as well as on individual businesses. Prior to joining KPMG in 2014 she worked at two independent economic consultancies as well as at PwC for over 14 years, where she set up and led their Macro Consulting business, as well as oversaw their international economic research. She has a BSc in Economics from UCL and did further studies in Advanced Econometrics at LSE. She also has a Chartered Accountant qualification.