The Citizens Economic Council (CEC) is a new RSA programme that will engage an independently selected group of 50 representative citizens in conversations about economic policy.  The citizens will engage with economists, leading thinkers and policymakers as well as other stakeholders, to discuss economic policy with agency and authority.

Whilst the economy is consistently ranked among the top three issues for voters in UK elections, there is a democratic deficit in economic policymaking due to a lack of economic literacy, a lack of transparency in the values and assumptions which underlie economic policy, and a lack of democracy and creativity in the way economics is debated.

The Citizens Economic Council seeks to address these challenges by demystifying economic concepts, equipping and empowering citizens to engage in debate, and creating a platform for new, innovative and credible perspectives on economic policy.

An opening public event on 29 June at the RSA will place the CEC programme in the wider context of participatory deliberations about economic policy, and set out its aims for enriching UK dialogue on the subject.  The event will ask:  can citizens really be economists, and what might the extent of their role and influence in shaping economic policy be?