Charles Read (historian)

Charles Read
AFHEA FRHistS FRSA
Born
London, England
Occupation(s)Historian and academic
Awards
Academic background
Alma materChrist's College, Cambridge
Academic work
DisciplineEconomic history
InstitutionsCorpus Christi College, Cambridge
Regent's Park College, Oxford

Charles Read is a British economic historian based at the University of Oxford, where he is Senior Tutor and Tutorial Fellow in History at Regent's Park College.[1] He was previously based at the University of Cambridge, where he was a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, a Bye-Fellow of Peterhouse, and Junior Proctor of the University in the 2023/24 academic year.[2] He is also a financial journalist who used to write and edit for The Economist.[3]

His research rose to prominence as a result of the financial panic caused by the September 2022 United Kingdom mini-budget, his research on the similar February 1847 budget anticipating the policy mistakes made by the Truss government[4] and for his warnings personally delivered to Kwasi Kwarteng and HM Treasury that the mini budget's policies could lead to financial instability.[5][6][7]

Read is also known for predicting the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank at the book launch for his second book, held at the University of Cambridge the evening before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on 10 March 2023.[8][9] As a result, it has been suggested he has staked a claim to be 'Cambridge's avatar economist for the 21st century'.[10][11]

  1. ^ "Dr Charles Read". Regent's Park College, Oxford. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Dr Charles Read". Corpus Christi College University of Cambridge.
  3. ^ "Charles Read, economic historian and journalist". Charles Read, economic historian and journalist.
  4. ^ Charles Read, The Irish Famine and Britain's Financial Crisis (The Boydell Press, 2022)
  5. ^ https://twitter.com/EconCharlesRead/status/1622050159818317825
  6. ^ Elgot, Jessica (2023-02-05). "Liz Truss's claim she was not warned about mini-budget risks 'misleading'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  7. ^ "Dr Charles Read quoted in Liz Truss's press coverage | Faculty of History University of Cambridge". www.hist.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  8. ^ Read, Charles (2023-03-13). "Silicon Valley Bank: how interest rates helped trigger its collapse and what central bankers should do next". The Conversation. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  9. ^ "Silicon Valley Bank collapse shakes confidence in U.S. banking, says expert -Xinhua". english.news.cn. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  10. ^ Scialom, Mike; https://www.facebook.com/CambridgeIndependent (2023-05-07). "Charles Read's second book offers a glimpse of greatness – if we can learn from the past".
  11. ^ "Charles Read's second book offers a glimpse of greatness – if we can learn from the past". Cambridge Independent. 2023-05-07. Retrieved 2023-12-08.