Pictured above: Mr Richard Lambert is greeted by Headmaster Mr Davies

Brentwood School pupils had the unique opportunity to meet Mr Richard Lambert, the Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) since 2006.  Mr Lambert was previously Editor of the Financial Times and a member of the powerful Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee from 2003-06.

Pupils listened carefully as Mr Lambert spoke of the current economic climate, covering two questions ‘How did we get into this mess?' and ‘How are we going to get out of it?'

Sixth Formers listened carefully as he discussed how bankers, politicians and financial journalists were to blame for the current state of the economy and added that excessive borrowing by families also contributed to this.   In his career Mr Lambert has experienced four recessions but admitted that this one is ‘a whopper' and explained how economic historians are already naming it the ‘great moderation'.

Mr Lambert commented that the recent government policies made on the 19^th January will help stabilise the situation and reassured the pupils that things will get better.  He commented ‘The cycle will change and there will be many opportunities for you (the pupils) to take and also ways in which you can grow'.  He predicted that the economy will hold in 2010, or go up slightly, and then waters might get calmer.

The lecture ended with a Q & A session which pupils took full advantage of, asking such things as; ‘Has the CBI attempted to influence the government's decisions in anyway?'  And ‘Do you think that Britain should stop trading abroad to protect ourselves?', to which he replied that this would be a huge mistake because international trade will help growth and he went on to say that the recent 25% decrease in sterling will benefit us in the long run, because this will boost exports.