The death of deference seems to be general at the moment, so everybody has to earn their reputation and trust all over again. You don't just get it by virtue of being a professor or a politician or anybody else.
Duncan GreenIn the end, that's a blind alley - we have to get back to being able to think on our feet and react.
Duncan GreenTo be effective at selling ideas, at being a lobbyist, influencing other people, you have to be very sure of yourself.
Duncan GreenThere's a tendency for people who believe passionately in something to be so convinced of their rightness that if they just repeat themselves a lot at the person, that will convince them. And that hasn't worked on things like immigration or trade deals.
Duncan GreenEconomists who studied in the '80s tend to have a pretty crude neoclassical view that's just about freeing up prices and markets, and then you'll get the growth and everybody benefits. And they'll just repeat that, because if you're a minister or a senior civil servant, you don't have time to read anything anymore. You get very fixed in your views.
Duncan Green