Book Launch: The London Consensus by Andrés Velasco

Join Americas Society/Council of the Americas for a conversation with Andrés Velasco, dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science and former minister of finance of Chile, about his new book, The London Consensus.

Co-edited by Velasco, Tim Besley, and Irene Bucelli, The London Consensus brings together the insights of over 50 of the world's leading economists and policy experts to discuss the best available evidence and ideas that have emerged since the original Washington Consensus of the 1980s and 1990s. 

A generation after those economic principles began to shape global policy debates, the book explores the Washington Consensus' neglect of the social, institutional, and distributional factors essential for achieving sustainable, inclusive growth. It asks: How should leaders tackle an even more daunting set of pressures that includes accelerating climate change, global pandemics, deepening social inequalities, the transformative impact of technology and AI, a fragmenting world economy, and the rise of populism and polarization threatening liberal democracies? The book seeks to foster dialogue and ultimately develop a set of principles that can address the urgent political, social, and economic tasks ahead.

About Andrés

Andrés Velasco is professor of public policy and dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

He is also an associate fellow at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and a research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research.

In 2023-24, he served on the Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health. During 2021-23, he was part of the High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) to the IMF and the World Bank. In 2017-18, he was a member of the G20 Eminent Persons Group. During 2015-16, he co-chaired the Global Panel on the Future of the Multilateral Lending Institutions. In 2013-16, he was a member of the Global Oceans Commission.

Professor Velasco was a presidential candidate in Chile in 2013. He also was the minister of finance of Chile between 2006 and 2010. During his tenure, he was recognized as Latin American Finance Minister of the Year by several international publications. His work to save Chile's copper windfall and create a rainy-day fund was highlighted in the Financial Times, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg, among many others.

In 2013-17, he served as professor of professional practice in international development at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. In 2000-06, he was Sumitomo-FASID professor of international finance and development at the Harvard Kennedy School. Earlier, he was associate professor of economics and director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University.

Professor Velasco has published a dozen books and over 50 academic articles. His research has appeared in top academic journals, including the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Economic Theory, the Journal of Monetary Economics, the Journal of Public Economics, the Journal of International Economics, the Journal of Development Economics, and the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking.

In 2006, he received the Inter-American Development Bank Award for Excellence in Economic Research.

He holds a BA in economics and philosophy and an MA in international relations from Yale University. He also holds a PhD in economics from Columbia University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in political economy at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He is married to Consuelo Saavedra, a journalist and radio and television anchorwoman. They have three children: Rosa, Ema, and Gaspar.