What have we learnt (if anything) from the economic crisis?

Have we learnt anything from the economic crisis that rocked the world only too recently? At the time of going to print, the UK was one of the few Western countries still not officially out of recession. Gillian Tett followed the crisis closely, Adam LeBor looked at how Madoff could fool so many people and Oliver James repeatedly put capitalism in the dock. Here they discuss the various facets of the crisis, structural or psychological, and investigate our responses to it and the choices we make for our future.

Oliver James practised as a clinical child psychologist and has worked as a writer, journalist, broadcaster and television documentary producer and presenter. His books include the best-selling Affluenza, They F*** You Up and Britain on the Couch. He is a trustee of the Alzheimer's charity, SPECAL.

Adam LeBor has worked in more than 30 countries and now reports on central Europe for The Times from Budapest. He writes both fiction and non-fiction: Jaffa City of Oranges and his latest The Believers: How America fell for Bernard Madoff’s 65 Billion Investment Scam

Gillian Tett is an assistant editor of the Financial Times and oversees the global coverage of the financial markets. In 2009 she was named Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards. Her book Fool’s Gold won Financial Book of the Year.

James Harding is the editor of The Times and the author of Alpha Dogs, The Americans Who Turned Political Spin into a Global Business.

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