Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Venue: UBC Robson Square Theatre (C300)800 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 3B7
Industrial policy is back on the agenda—but what does it mean for inequality? Governments are investing billions to foster innovation, build resilient supply chains, and compete in an uncertain global economy. Yet the question remains: who benefits, and who is left behind?
Our expert panel of economists will explore the new era of industrial policy, from strategies to support key sectors to the broader implications for income and wealth inequality. Don’t miss this conversation on how public policy choices today will shape the distribution of opportunity tomorrow.
Schedule
5:45 PM – Registration
6:00 PM – Panel and Q&A
7:15 PM – Reception
Speakers
Réka Juhász is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of British Columbia, where she studies how industrial policies shape long-run economic growth and productivity. She is a co-founder of The Industrial Policy Group and a 2025 DG Grow Fellow at the European Commission. Her research asks how countries that are behind the global technology frontier can catch up, and what governments can do to foster innovation and industrialization. She is the recipient of the 2025 Bank of Canada Governor’s Award and the 2025 CWEC/CFEC Early Career Research Award. At this panel, she will bring a global perspective on the design of industrial policy and its role in creating opportunities—or reinforcing divides—across sectors and societies.
David Green is Professor in the Vancouver School of Economics and Director of the Stone Centre on Wealth and Income Inequality at UBC. He is an International Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London. His research focuses on how changes in industries and labour markets ripple out across occupations and communities, shaping wages and employment opportunities. His work on resource booms, industrial shifts, and local labour markets has informed both academic debates and government policy. At this panel, he will discuss how industrial policies can create broader spillover effects—raising the question of who gains, and who is left behind, when governments target support to specific sectors.
Katherine Wagner is an Assistant Professor in the Vancouver School of Economics. Her research spans environmental and energy economics as well as public finance, with a focus on how policies can address climate change, natural resource management, and environmental externalities. Recently, her work has turned toward the labour market impacts of Canada’s energy transition, exploring how public policy can support displaced workers while fostering innovation in greener industries. At this panel, she will speak to the intersection of industrial and environmental policy, and what it means for inequality in a changing economy.
Moderator
Henry Siu is a Professor at the Vancouver School of Economics and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. A macroeconomist, his research explores how broad economic forces—such as business cycles, automation, and demographic change—affect labour markets and society. He has held visiting positions at central banks in Canada, the United States, and Australia, and regularly engages with policy audiences on issues of growth and employment. As moderator, he will draw on his expertise to connect the panelists’ perspectives and lead a wide-ranging conversation on industrial policy and inequality.
Event is subject to limited capacity, registration is required.
This event is presented in partnership with the Faculty of Arts.
Questions? Please contact Laura Chan, Event Manager, Faculty of Arts.