In this episode of Crossing Channels, Richard Westcott talks to Dr Alessio Terzi from the Bennett School of Public Policy, and Prof Christian Gollier from the Toulouse School of Economics, about what a “fair” climate transition could look like when the costs are local, the benefits are global, and the politics are hard.

They explore why decarbonisation is a whole-economy transformation, what it means for jobs and places, and why the narrative matters as much as the technology.

The conversation also looks at carbon pricing and redistribution, the credibility problem of long-term policy, and what kinds of institutions and policies can keep people on board in the years ahead.

Season 5 Episode 4 transcript: MS Word / PDF

Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform

For more information about the Crossing Channels podcast series and the work of the Bennett School of Public Policy and IAST visit our websites at https://www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/ and https://www.iast.fr/.

Follow us on Linkedin and Bluesky.

With thanks to:

• Audio production by Alice Whaley
• Associate production by Burcu Sevde Selvi
• Visuals by Tiffany Naylor and Pauline Alves

More information about our guests:

Podcast guests

Prof Christian Gollier’s research spans the fields of economics of uncertainty, environmental economics, finance, consumption, insurance and cost-benefit analysis, with a particular interest in long-term sustainable effects. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society. He founded the Jean-Jacques Laffont / Toulouse School of Economics Foundation with Jean Tirole in 2007. He was its director from 2009 to 2024 (with a hiatus in 2015-2016). From June 2023 to October 2025, he was the first director of the “Grand Etablissement TSE”.

Dr Alessio Terzi is an economist working at the intersection of academia, think-tanks, and policy. He is Assistant Professor at the Bennett School of Public Policy, Cambridge, where he also directs the MPhil in Public Policy, and is an Adjunct Professor in Economics at Sciences Po. He is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Equitable Transition. @terzibus.bsky.social

In this episode of Crossing Channels, Richard Westcott talks to Diane Coyle and César Hidalgo about how knowledge, ideas and intangible assets are becoming central to modern prosperity. They discuss what makes intellectual capital distinctive, how AI may widen or narrow inequalities, and why some places benefit more than others. The conversation also explores the challenges of measuring intangible value and what kinds of skills, institutions and infrastructure are needed for countries and regions to turn intellectual capital into broader, long-term growth.

Season 5 Episode 3 transcript: https://www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Episode-3-Transcript_Final.pdf

For more information about the Crossing Channels podcast series and the work of the Bennett School of Public Policy and IAST visit our websites at https://www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/ and https://www.iast.fr/

Follow us on Linkedin and Bluesky.

With thanks to:

• Audio production by Alice Whaley
• Associate production by Burcu Sevde Selvi
• Visuals by Tiffany Naylor and Pauline Alves

More information about our host and guests:

Podcast host

Richard Westcott is an award-winning journalist who spent 27 years at the BBC as a correspondent/producer/presenter covering global stories for the flagship Six and Ten o’clock TV news as well as the Today programme. Last year, Richard left the corporation and he is now the communications director for Cambridge University Health Partners and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, both organisations that are working to support life sciences and healthcare across the city.

Podcast guests

Diane Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. She is the Research Director at the Bennett School of Public Policy. Diane’s latest book is The Measure of Progress: Counting what really matters.
Her own research focuses on productivity, the digital economy and AI policy, and economic measurement. Diane is currently a member of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Council, the New Towns Taskforce, and advises the Competition and Markets Authority. Diane was awarded a DBE in 2023 for her contribution to economics and public policy.

César Hidalgo is a Chilean-Spanish-American scholar known for his contributions to economic complexity and for his applied work on data visualization and artificial intelligence. Hidalgo is a tenured professor at the Toulouse School of Economics’ (TSE) Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the head of the Center for Collective Learning a multidisciplinary research laboratory with offices at Institute for Advanced Study (IAST) at TSE and the Corvinus Institute of Advanced Studies (CIAS) at Corvinus University of Budapest. He is also an Honorary Professor at the Alliance Manchester Business School of the University of Manchester.

In this episode of Crossing Channels, Richard Westcott talks to Jack Newman, Angélique Acquatella and Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg about the forces that shape inequality today.

Drawing on economics, politics and public policy, our guests examine why gaps persist, look at the roles of technology and trade, explore evidence on health inequalities in the UK, and discuss the delivery gap between national ambitions and local capacity. They share examples of when place-based approaches can work, what gets in the way, and how institutions can support more inclusive growth.

Season 5 Episode 2 transcript: MS Word / PDF

Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform:

For more information about the Crossing Channels podcast series and the work of the Bennett School of Public Policy and IAST visit our websites at https://www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/ and https://www.iast.fr/.

With thanks to:

• Audio production by Alice Whaley
• Associate production by Burcu Sevde Selvi
• Visuals by Tiffany Naylor and Pauline Alves

More information about our podcast host and guests:

Podcast host

Richard Westcott is an award-winning journalist who spent 27 years at the BBC as a correspondent/producer/presenter covering global stories for the flagship Six and Ten o’clock TV news as well as the Today programme. Last year, Richard left the corporation and he is now the communications director for Cambridge University Health Partners and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, both organisations that are working to support life sciences and healthcare across the city.

Podcast guests

Angélique Acquatella is an Assistant Professor at the Toulouse School of Economics. She received her PhD in Economics at Harvard University. During her doctoral studies, she was an NBER Aging and Health Fellow and a National Science Foundation Fellow. Angélique's research looks at the optimal design of healthcare policy, within two main substantive areas: public health insurance systems and pharmaceutical payment policy. She is interested in policy designs that advance health equity, minimise risk for the most disadvantaged individuals, and incentivise socially valuable investments.

Jack Newman is a public policy researcher specialising in decentralisation and place-based policy. He is an Affiliated Researcher at the Bennett School of Public Policy, and a Research Associate at the University of Manchester, investigating the changing spatial footprint and governance structures of the NHS. In recent years, Jack has researched spatial inequality, local institutions, and healthy urban development at the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Manchester, Surrey, and Leeds.

Pinelopi (Penny) Koujianou Goldberg is the Elihu Professor of Economics and Global Affairs and an Affiliate of the Economic Growth Center at Yale University. She holds a joint appointment at the Yale Department of Economics and the Jackson School of Global Affairs. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, recipient of Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and Sloan Research Fellowships, and recipient of the Bodossaki Prize in Social Sciences. Pinelopi is an applied microeconomist drawn to policy-relevant questions in trade and development.