Intergenerational Justice: What do we owe future generations?: Hilary Term Seminar Series 2011

Oxford University•www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk

What are the long-term consequences of decisions we make today, and to what extent should the interests of future generations be taken into account? There is a wide range of public policy challenges that require us to provide some sort of answer to these questions. This interdisciplinary seminar series brings together academics and experts to address the implications of critical questions arising from ideas of intergenerational justice. Speakers will consider different areas of public policy and ethical debate, including climate change, sustainability and fiscal strategies for population ageing. Even with broad agreement that we should consider the interests of future generations in our collective decision-making, there is plenty of room for argument and debate about detailed application to different cases and circumstances.

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Episodes

Can Generations be Treated Equally?

Professor Asheim, Department of Economics, University of Oslo, gives a talk for the Oxford Martin School Hilary Term Seminar Series 2011 Intergenerational Justice: What do we owe future generations? Economists sometimes claim that generations cannot be treated equally. Some even argue that future generations must be given less weight than the present generation. Prof. Asheim will explain the basis for this claim and discuss ways in which it is still possible to balance present and future interes...

Aug 24, 2011•41 min

Fiscal Policy, Fairness between Generations and National Saving

Dr Martin Weale, of the Bank of England Monetary Policy, gives a talk for the Oxford Martin School 2011 Hilary Term Seminar Series; Intergenerational Justice: What do we owe future generations? We assess fiscal policy from the perspective of fairness between generations and the relationship between this and national saving, in the context where the United Kingdom is one of the lowest saving of all the OECD economies. Cross-section and pooled data suggest that governments are in a position to inf...

Aug 24, 2011•49 min

Climate change investment - what is it worth for future generations?

The worthiness of a social investment project is a balance between the cost of the project, and the value of the benefits to society/ how long those benefits may apply. The term social discounting is often used by economists as a way of summarising this, and it's precise calculation is often an area of hot debate. Nowhere is this more true than in the field of investment designed to protect future generations against the negative effects of climate change. So, if we spend many millions to act ag...

Mar 10, 2011•1 hr 13 min

Demographic balance and human capital from an intergenerational perspective

Our world is demographically divided - some populations continue to grow rapidly, while others are already on a shrinking trajectory. But it is becoming increasingly important to understand how population structures are actually changing, not just increasing in size. Many populations have been ageing in an historically unprecedented way, and an acceleration of global population ageing is almost certain for the coming decades. At the same time, the educational achievement among the young is impro...

Feb 18, 2011•48 min

Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice: What are our obligations to future generations?

Climate change raises profound questions of intergenerational justice. It is widely recognized that there is a powerful case for mitigation in virtue of obligations we have to future generations. But how much mitigation is required? Is the widely held view that humanity should act so as to prevent anything higher than two degrees celsius increase in temperatures over pre-industrial temperatures an appropriate one? Should the upper limit be lower than that? How should we decide? Answers to this d...

Feb 11, 2011•45 min

A legacy of dangers: Climate failure and future generations

The principles that ought to guide our one-way relations with future generations depend profoundly on the precise nature of what is being provided to or - in this case, inflicted on - them. Most discussions of intergenerational justice assume that some benefit is being provided to the future. In the case of the accelerating rate of climate change, we face a dilemma. Business-as-usual on our part will make the environment for future generations less hospitable to human enterprises, especially agr...

Feb 09, 2011•40 min

Sustainability: How can each generation live well within limits?

Well-being, Time and Sustainability: Epicurus or Aristotle? This seminar addresses two key questions about sustainability. Firstly, is it is possible to maintain or improve well-being without increasing consumption? Then, secondly, is it possible to extend the time-horizon of individuals and institutions so that the interests of future persons can be better made to count in current choices? The talk will approach answers from the contrasting perspectives of Philosophers Aristotle and Epicurus. D...

Jan 28, 2011•1 hr 1 min

Is the fiscal crisis forcing a rethink of our intergenerational compact with the elderly?

Professor Peter Heller (John Hopkins University) on 'Is the fiscal crisis forcing a rethink of our intergenerational compact with the elderly?'. As part of the Oxford Martin School's Seminar Series on Intergenerational Justice, Professor Peter S. Heller of the School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University will examine whether the time-honored compact of an intergenerational sharing of the burden of an elderly population is in need of being revisited in the wake of the ...

Jan 21, 2011•37 min

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