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I'm an elected local councillor, ecological economist and Green Party activist, working…
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Sheridan Kates reposted thisSheridan Kates reposted thisExtremely lovely to speak with the great Emma River-Roberts, whose work I have been following and learning SO MUCH from for many years. We got to talk about something wildly important but also wildly under-discussed - what happens to the climate movement, and in particular its already-strained relationship with class, when it gets fully infected with AI? Eg: What happens when climate worker uni graduates have weak skills because their courses were enshittified with AI? Go watch the full thing! The Working Class Climate Alliance GND Media https://lnkd.in/ezmAPmhF
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Sheridan Kates shared thisI’ve met so many absolute legends at Space4. If you’re in reach of London but not in the market for a coworking spot, then do the next best thing and come join this networking session to meet some of us too 🤸🏻♀️Sheridan Kates shared thisReferral networking is the best networking I've ever done. If you've never tried it come to our sessions at SPACE4 last Tuesday of the month :). Really good for small businesses and freelancers in the social impact space 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾 https://lnkd.in/eF7EDSfy
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Sheridan Kates shared thisReeling from an incredible 48h! Firstly I'm so happy that our long-developed new economic policy was overwhelmingly passed at Green Party conference (as the last motion heard of the day). This is a truly ambitious economic platform fit for the 21st century - you can watch a video overview of me talking about the policy here: https://lnkd.in/ezXtrTiA. Congrats to the entire policy working group, whose labour of love over years has truly paid off. There's more to add, but this is what unlocks the ability for our elected officials to defend the radical economic system change that's going to be crucial to fight the far-right and challenge any attempts from the current government to claim we can't do what's needed for people and planet. Secondly, I was delighted to take part in an economics panel at Magdalen College School Oxford, as the dissenting voice challenging why the UK needed to return to growth. 150 teenagers from across the Oxford region came along to hear our diverse opinions. I hope they came away with an understanding that economics is not just neoclassical economics, and how critical it is at this point that the alternative schools of thought be heard.
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Sheridan Kates reposted thisSheridan Kates reposted thisOn BBC Question Time last week, Jonathan Reynolds MP claimed "no economist supports rent controls". So here's why I support rent controls, as an economist (drawing on my recent report for UCL & NEF, co-authored with Joe Beswick, link in comments). Markets only work well if: - buyers & sellers have roughly equal power - producers respond to scarcity by expanding supply - buyers can walk away if prices get too high None of these hold in the private rented sector. Shelter is non-substitutable: few renters can 'exit the market' without becoming homeless. And decades of record rents & house prices haven't sparked the building boom neoclassical theory predicts. The result is an inherent power imbalance that many landlords have exploited. Which helps explain why the average mortgaged landlord enjoys profit margins over 5x the average UK business (image 1). Unmortgaged landlords – the majority – do even better. It also helps explain why returns on landlord equity are higher than the wider real estate sector, despite the latter typically involving more risk (image 2: from on analysis I worked on with Autonomy for JRF - link in comments). For 30 years these supernormal returns have fuelled a Buy to Let frenzy: landlords outbidding first-time buyers & pushing up house prices, rather than investing in UK productive capacity. Find me an economist who'd call that healthy! Yes, the rent controls that we had in the UK for most of the 20th-century were crude. But they discouraged the financialisation of housing and protected tenants from exploitation – and their removal led to the most dramatic deterioration in rental affordability on record (image 3). I started taking rent controls seriously when I realised even a huge increase in house-building & housing benefit wouldn't touch the sides of this crisis (image 4). Opponents warn landlords will sell up. Of course landlord exit presents a risk – but it also offers a historic opportunity. Because when a landlord sells, the home doesn't vanish; only the owner changes (image 5). And there are policies which can protect tenants and support a managed shift of homes out of the PRS, and into home ownership, or permanently secure, affordable ownership by councils, HAs, co-ops and community groups (image 6). Finally, landlord exits are likely to be slow. Currently both landlord and PRS dwelling numbers are still rising. Even a 20% rent cut would leave the average mortgaged landlord with margins 4.5x the average UK business. Meanwhile that same cut would save renters £2,400/yr and government £2bn/yr in housing benefit. Few policies offer such relief to the hardest-hit households whilst saving public money! So we conclude that the risks of rent controls are real, but manageable. And they pale against the costs of inaction: entrenched poverty, spiralling public spending and millions locked out of housing security.
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Sheridan Kates reposted thisSheridan Kates reposted thisRight now, across the Northern Hemisphere, an estimated 50 million young people are starting or getting ready to start their first year of undergraduate studies. Among them, some 7-10 million will study #economics alone or as part of a degree in business, finance, politics or law (based on UNESCO figures). Such students are more likely than others to seek leadership positions — in politics, civil service, finance, media. That is, they’ll be responsible for shaping our laws, policies, institutions and public understanding in the years and decades ahead. Almost all of them will be studying #neoclassical economics, the dominant thought school, taught in around 99% of undergrad programmes. That is, they will be trained in the mindset of Homo Economicus, famously caricatured in Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics as that individual man obsessed with making money, who loves markets and ignores nature, power or the unseen work of care. It is quite possible they will not actually be told they are studying neoclassical economics — it will simply be presented as ‘economics.’ This is despite neoclassicism emerging as the *dominant* school not because it had the best models or theories, or after a robust, scholarly debate — but in large part thanks to the active suppression of competing schools, froom the post-war Marxist purges, to the 1950-60s Neoliberal takeover, to defunding of Keynesian in the Reagan-Thatcher era. Until then, it was but *one* thought school, and not without its flaws and critics (not least for its inability to explain the Great Depression; echoed in a failure to foresee the 2007-08 financial crash). Invisible Handcuffs isn’t your usual interview series — it is research for a documentary-in-the-making about the capture of economics and how we can free ourselves from its chains — mentally, and in practice: in the classroom, university, treasury department, climate ministry, central bank and newsroom. Each episode we speak with people who, one way or another, are fighting for a better economy — and economics — about what has gone wrong, and what we can do. Because today we face economic challenges that dwarf any we have every witnessed to date, which are going to require a very different set of responses. These are not going to come from the same thought school that has helped get us here. So far we’ve recorded seven interviews which we’re labelling Season 1, with Kate Raworth, John Harvey, Clive Spash, Steve Keen, Bhumika Muchhala, Emma Holten and Luke Kemp. Our five-minute Season recap shares some of our favourite quotes, below. You can find the link to our website and YouTube channel in the first comment, below. You can also listen to the series on your favourite podcasting platform. By liking and subscribing, the algorithm will help others find our series and you’ll also be notified when our new episodes drop. Season 2 launches this Thursday with two new episodes, and will then shift to a two-weekly cadence.
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Sheridan Kates reposted thisSheridan Kates reposted thisToday The Working Class Climate Alliance is launching our survey on classism in the climate movement which will feed into the first ever policy report of its kind. Classism in the climate movement remains rampant. Despite the need to confront it, we weren't able to locate a single policy report that focused on this in the United Kindom. So we decided to change that. We want to hear from all working class people and those from working class backgrounds who are aged 18 or over, based in the United Kingdom and are either currently involved in the climate movement or have been at any point in the past. Drawing directly on survey responses, the report will lay out the classism people have faced, its effect on how they see the movement, and recommendations for making these spaces more inclusive to working class people. The survey will take 10-15 minutes to complete. Everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a prize draw, with 5 respondents winning £50 each. 👉 Fill out the survey here: https://lnkd.in/ef7CSZ9M We want to send our many thanks to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK branch) and The Movements Trust whose funding has made this project possible, and for their support of the organisation! Please fill out if you can and share the link with anyone you think would be interested. The more responses we gather, the more representative the results will be. Christopher Shaw Anna Henry Ellie Barker Sheridan Kates Parisa Wright John Barry Calum McGeown Catherine Fisher Dr. Tanya Hawkes Nysha Chantel G. Níall Glynn Irma Allen PhD Liz Gadd Dr Rachael O'Connor James Knaggs Dr Jenna Ashton Gnisha Bevan Cass Hebron Connor D. Declan Owens Natasha Yorke-Edgell Sara Al-Mahdi Juliet Michaelson Carolyn Axtell Dr John Maguire Adam Corner Jess Pilgrim-Brown (FHEA) Peter Bryant peter orr Stacey Mottershaw Victoria Maguire-Rajpaul, PhD Dr Craig Johnston Duncan Exley Rebecca Stacey The Class Work Project Possible
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Sheridan Kates reposted thisSheridan Kates reposted thisSome positive news this week about the Heat Strike campaign, that The Working Class Climate Alliance is a part of. After taking industrial action last month over dangerously hot working conditions (with several instances of buses reaching over 40 degrees: https://lnkd.in/eDp_5HJ6), the latest round of strikes has been called off after drivers in North London voted to accept a new deal surrounding their working conditions. The deal includes several improvements to driver conditions, including fitting air conditioning to Arriva London North buses by May 2027! At the moment, most buses operated by Arriva London North have air cooling systems which are only able to reduce temperatures by around two or three degrees during heatwaves. This is a great win for workers (and passengers), yet there is much work still to be done. There is still no legal maximum working temperature in the UK and this urgently needs to change. You can read more about the Heat Strike campaign here: https://lnkd.in/eFJ5M3mX https://lnkd.in/e-xu_eqfArriva North London drivers win ground breaking “hot bus” victoryArriva North London drivers win ground breaking “hot bus” victory
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Sheridan Kates reposted thisI've been putting this event together for next month which I'm excited for. While the green energy industry is still relatively young there's an opportunity to develop a culture of openness when it comes to developing digital tech. Through these types of conversations we can surface what works so that we can decarbonise our grid more rapidly and not waste resources on reinventing the wheel ⚡⚡⚡ See you there! Caroline Bowen Akshat Kulkarni Tim Minshall Edward Saperia Jonathan Bamgboye Nicola Moore Henry Eames Cristobal Pollman Anna Hyde Sheridan KatesSheridan Kates reposted thisWe’re excited to be hosting an event next month bringing together some great digital innovators from the clean energy sector 🌿 ⚡ 🌿 ⚡ Outlandish has worked with climate activists and climate scientists for years. Increasingly, we find ourselves also inspired by groups developing pragmatic innovations to decarbonise the UK's energy grid. That's why since 2024 we’ve been building Nook, an open source case management system that’s helping community energy advisers get through their case load more rapidly and therefore increase uptake of green community energy. We’d love to meet more people working in this sector so we’ve decided to host some events to hear about other projects at the intersection of tech-for-good and the rapidly growing green energy network. On October 8th we’ll be hearing from Somayeh Taheri from UrbanChain and and Connie Duxbury from Younity who will be showcasing their digital platforms. We’ll also hear from Outlandish’s very own Richard Edwards who will talk about Nook and the potential of open source approaches to scale innovation in the sector more rapidly and therefore deliver greater value to customers and the environment. Get your tickets here: https://lnkd.in/ewn3XMAr October 8th 18.00-20.00 @ SPACE4 and online (come in person if you can - that’s where the magic happens!) #greenenergy #communityenergy #techforgood #opensource #innovation #climatetech #events #justtransition
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Sheridan Kates reposted thisSheridan Kates reposted thisHi all! I ran a 1-hour taster session on Sociocracy at the Worker Coop Weekend this summer and it went down really well. So I've decided to offer two free in-person sessions at SPACE4 this Autumn. I'll also be running it at Co-operatives UK Practitioners Forum on 26th November. Please come if you're curious, no experience needed. It's 5-6pm Thursday 24th Sep and 19th Nov. You'll leave with some practical ideas you can put into action immediately. It's life changing, if you ask me :). https://lnkd.in/eNWiQJpt
Sheridan Kates commented on a post
1w
wow dream job! congrats hon, how exciting
Sheridan Kates commented on a post
2w
Agree, it's super important to clarify this. In degrowth circles, we all make clear that there's a need to grow certain sectors like public transport, and that technological innovations have their place, but not via VC-backed companies doing things like packaging alternatives that will just go the way of Jevon's paradox without an economic paradigm shift towards sufficiency.
Sheridan Kates replied to a comment
3w
John Harvey it was the system, and we're all in this together <3 (well I don't think some of those other economists on the panel are joining our efforts any time soon ;) )
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Sheridan Kates reacted on thisSheridan Kates reacted on this“We’re missing out on so many students who could be part of this story.” Such a fitting statement, given what’s happening in the world right now, from my latest guest on Invisible Handcuffs. Shloka Murarka is an economics Masters student, former activist with Rethinking Economics and now board member of the new UK Association for Quality Economics, AQE — the main topic of this discussion. Keynes is quoted as having said that “practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.” Well, if that’s true, then the youth protesting around the world are ultimately protesting the ideas put in place by those “practical men” (and let’s face it, they are still mostly men), in service to defunct economic ideas that area clearly no longer serving us. From the streets of Paris, Brussels, Mumbai — young people are demanding an education, and an economy that serves their futures. But how can we expect new economic ideas that can meet their needs if the subject itself cannot attract — and importantly, retain — the very people most in need of them? Keynes also said he one way hoped that economists would be thought of as, “humble, competent people, more like dentists.” Could requiring economics to meet certain standards - much like dentists and other “vocations” — be part of the solution? That’s the thinking behind the new AQE — a new accreditation for UK universities. Because, despite economics liking to frame itself as a ”hard” science doing “positive” research with “neutral” tools, of the some 200 accreditation bodies that exist for various subjects in the UK, there is not, as yet, a single standard for economics. That's what the AQE seeks to offer. Shloka joined me to discuss how it came about, and what she and her colleagues hope it will achieve. To find out more, listen to the full interview (link in the first comment below) and check out the show notes for links to more resources. If you care about economics system change, as Shloka says, economics education IS key to that, so especially, but not only, if you are in the UK — I highly recommend checking out the AQE and considering joining and having your say! Thank you to Shloka for the brilliant interview and everyone involved for this important work!
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Sheridan Kates reacted on thisSheridan Kates reacted on thisText I’ve sent into BBC Good Morning Ulster radio programme that they have not read out in relation to their coverage of the UK budget …once again we see the myth of “the government is like a household” and “there’s no money”… the government does not create money for funding public services via taxes … it creates money by spending it into existence …. In a monetarily sovereign state like the UK, the government cannot “run out” of that of which it has complete control in creating….
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Sheridan Kates liked thisThree NEF policy wins we’re likely to hear in today’s budget: - £20bn extra funding for the National Wealth Fund and British Business Bank - Raising taxes on the unearned profits of the banks, expected to raise around £2bn per year - Extra £1bn funding for the social and affordable homes programme I’m calling these wins, because it’s good to recognise our achievements in influencing the debate, but really for all of them I would say they’re just small steps in a positive direction. Overall, they don’t yet go nearly far enough to deliver transformative economic change on the level of ambition we’ve heard in the prime minister’s rhetoric. And three areas we think are likely to be missing from the budget: - Equalising capital gains tax with income tax, and broadening its scope, so that income from owning is treated on a par with income from working - Major reform of energy bills (along the lines of our national energy guarantee proposal) so that households are properly protected from the huge spike expected for January. The measures rumoured to be on the cards will only make a small dent in bills, compared to the forecast rise. - Major action to reduce the cost of public transport, especially to remove barriers for young people to access good jobs. This list could have focused on a huge range of policy areas, it’s by no means comprehensive! These are just a few that are top of my mind. Ultimately, we’re not going to have a truly transformative budget until the government grasps the nettle of reforming the fiscal and monetary frameworks that set the macroeconomic playing field and govern how much resource the chancellor has to play with. For better or worse, the new regime has postponed thinking about that at least until next year – leaving this budget as more of a stop-gap, and a signal of good intent.
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Sheridan Kates liked thisSheridan Kates liked thisIt's only fair that income from wealth is taxed at the same rate as income from work. It was disappointing to hear the chancellor rule this out from the upcoming budget. George Bangham was on Times Radio last night to discuss
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Sheridan Kates liked thisSheridan Kates liked thisThose who know me will be aware about my skepticism (to put it lightly) around the proliferation of AI in our everyday lives. From what started as mild frustration at AI summaries and plug ins appearing everywhere, and evolved into an active avoidance of any agents, content or generative tools, I'm acutely aware of feeling like I've missed the runaway train that is AI use. Or more accurately, it's a train I refuse to board. Of course "AI" itself is an unhelpful blanket term (much like "SAF" is for aviation). It's a catch-all that combines the genuinely useful applications with the outright wasteful. And then stories like this emerge. 815 acres of forest illegally cleared to build a data centre to meet skyrocketing AI-driven demand. The EU alone aims to "at least triple" data centre capacity in the next 5-7 years... On what land? Powered by what energy? At Climate Catalyst we have begun formulating our new programme on AI Climate Governance in Europe, and it feels like this could not be a more critical time to hit the breaks on a runaway train that - at current rates - is hurtling towards one clear destination: environmental disaster. #AI #climateaction #climategovernance #NGOaction #climatenews https://lnkd.in/eWjfEvSd‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for datacentre‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for datacentre
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Sheridan Kates reacted on thisSheridan Kates reacted on thisCaring is a job. So is the admin that comes with it. When we talk about unpaid caring, we often focus on practical, hands on support people provide. But there is another workload that rarely gets the same attention. The hours spent chasing professionals, co-ordinating services, completing forms and hanging on line listening to yet another round of Greenselves. It's rearranging appointments, repeating information to different organisations and correcting the inevitable mistakes. It's keeping track of paperwork and trying to navigate systems that don't join up. This is caring administration and we want to understand just how much time it takes. Because we suspect it's the equivalent of a whole other job. We Care Campaign is inviting unpaid carers to complete a short survey, which takes about 5 minutes. If you look after a family member, partner, friend or neighbour because of a disability or addiction, we'd like to hear from you. We'll use the findings in our report for Carers Rights Day to help make this often truly invisible workload, more visible. Because if we want services and policies that genuinely support unpaid carers, we need to understand the reality of our lives including the admin work that happens behind the scenes. 👉 Take the survey: https://lnkd.in/erucZMGf Please share with your networks and help us reach more unpaid carers. This particular and overlooked lived experience needs to be part of the conversation. Annabelle-Marie E. #UnpaidCarers #CarersRightsDay #LivedExperience #WeCareCampaign
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Sheridan Kates reacted on thisSheridan Kates reacted on thisI can't quite believe it, but this week I joined the New Economics Foundation as a Senior Economist. It's a joy - and a privilege!! - to be part of an organisation that has been committed to transforming the economy for so many years, and I'm thrilled to be playing my own little part in that. I'll be focusing on a programme of Universal Basic Services: an agenda for a sustainable and just collective provision of the things that we all need. As we push past planetary limits, reimagining how we can live well through and beyond a green transition is more important than ever. If you're thinking about how housing, care, energy or other parts of the economy can be fit for the future, whether through UBS itself or something a little different, then I'd love to catch up!
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Sheridan Kates reacted on thisSheridan Kates reacted on thisOn Friday I attended the Community Energy London Summit, and it left me feeling genuinely optimistic about the future of community energy. With Great British Energy recently announcing £30m of funding to help kick-start a community power revolution, there is real momentum behind the sector. It was encouraging to see such strong collaboration between the GLA, London boroughs, investors and community energy organisations, all focused on scaling community energy across the capital. There was a clear sense that community energy is finally receiving the recognition, support and investment needed to grow, particularly as public sector organisations increasingly recognise its potential to reduce energy costs and strengthen local resilience. At the same time, there was important discussion about the reality that much of this work is still driven by volunteers. As the sector grows, ensuring those leading change in their communities are properly supported and remunerated will be critical. I was particularly inspired to hear from Power Up North London, which recently secured a 20-year contract with the London Borough of Camden to help decarbonise its non-residential estate, and from South East London Community Energy (Selce), whose impressive project pipeline is the result of years of dedicated effort. The summit also saw the launch of the Community Energy Taskforce report, Community Power for London: A Pathway to 1,000 Community Energy Projects by 2030. Its recommendations focus on: ⚡ Building investable project pipelines ⚡ Unlocking access to public and commercial sites ⚡ Attracting greater investment in community-led delivery ⚡ Strengthening organisational capacity ⚡ Embedding community ownership in local energy projects I'll be taking these insights back to the community energy group I'm supporting in Sutton, with the hope that together we can play a small part in helping London reach its goal of 1,000 community energy projects by 2030. If you're interested in community energy and its potential to transform local places, I'd love to hear from you.
Experience & Education
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Volunteer Experience
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Organizing Member
Degrowth London
- Present 4 years 1 month
Economic Empowerment
Part of the organising team, with responsibilities mostly in the digital communications sphere (website, email set up, etc). Additionally I have given talks on degrowth and alternative economic systems to various local organisations as part of Degrowth London.
Languages
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French
Professional working proficiency
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English
Native or bilingual proficiency
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