Tuesday 27 March, 5.30pm
Venue: Fale Pasifika, University of Auckland
Register to attend: https://goo.gl/fbHEEJ
The Treasury has an ambition to integrate a broader conception of economics and value into the everyday work of public policy. This is being taken forward in the development of its Living Standards Framework. Traditionally, economists have focused their thinking about the factors of production, like land and labour, and how they are combined to create goods and services. The Living Standards Framework is an adaptation of this notion: the four capitals – natural, human, social and financial/physical – are the stocks which combine to generate flows of wellbeing. Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf will talk about how the development and application of the Living Standards Framework is progressing, with a particular focus on social capital. He will also set out what’s next in the work towards creating an effective set of wellbeing indicators for New Zealand, and how people can support this challenging and exciting work.
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Gabriel Makhlouf – Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Executive |
Gabriel Makhlouf is the Secretary to the Treasury. He is the Government’s chief economic and financial adviser, and leads the Treasury’s work to help raise living standards for New Zealanders through a stable, growing economy and a high-performing public service.
Gabriel’s ambition for the Treasury’s Living Standards Framework is that it helps integrate a broader conception of economics and value into the everyday work of policy advice. He believes that the challenge is to bring together different strands of evidence and analytical frameworks and weave them into baskets to carry forward public policy. This will require a leap of thinking, but one that is necessary if the Treasury is to stay at the leading edge of economic policy.
Gabriel is the Champions for Change Vice Co-Chair and has long been an advocate of the business case for diversity in organisations, and believes that diversity of thinking is fundamental to a high performing public sector. He has led the charge at the Treasury to develop a culture that supports, values and fosters diversity of thinking and experience to help the organisation deliver on its world-leading aspirations.
Gabriel’s career was previously in the United Kingdom civil service where his responsibilities ranged from policy development on domestic and international tax and welfare policy issues through to large-scale, customer-focused, operational delivery. He was Chair of the world’s main tax rule-making body – the Committee on Fiscal Affairs – at the OECD in Paris between 2000 and 2004, and was also responsible for the UK’s Government Banking Service. He served as Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Gabriel has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from the University of Exeter and a Master’s degree (MSc) in Industrial Relations from the University of Bath, and is an alumnus of international business school INSEAD’s Advanced Management Programme. The son of a United Nations official, Gabriel grew up in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and speaks French and Greek. He is married with one adult son.
