Money and power: the future of the City

Primarily profit-driven or ethical and eco-friendly,
the future direction of the Citys financial
institutions will affect us all.

The Society of Cogers cordially invite you to a
popular Debate - Money & Power: the future of the City
to celebrate 250 years of the worlds oldest
free-speech and debating forum.

Food from 6:00pm
Debate 7:00 9:15pm, 25th July 2005
St Brides Institute
Bride Lane, Fleet Street, London EC4Y 8EQ
£3 including a vegetarian meal.

Speakers are:
Magnus Nielsen, City historian and Chairman of the
Cogers Trust on The Importance of the City of London
to the Nation and the World';

Stuart Fraser, Court of Common Council, Corporation of
London (and heavily tipped as the next Lord Mayor) on
'Ensuring Continued Success' - a viewpoint from 'The
City';

Chris Cook, ex City regulator and co-founder of
Partnerships Consulting LLP on An Alternative
Trading Future

Although open to the public, invited audience members
expected to contribute include representatives of a
number of anti-capitalist groups: the debate is likely
to be lively!

We hope to see you there.

Founded by friends and supporters of John Wilkes in
1755, the Antient Society of Cogers has offered a
forum for free speech and debate in the City of London
for a quarter of a millennium. As the oldest survivor
of a noble tradition of coffee and ale-house debating
societies, the Cogers (from Descartes: Cogito, ergo
sum) are inviting representatives of many less
venerable institutions to celebrate this impressive
anniversary with a popular debate on the history and
future of the City at the St Brides Institute
opposite the site of the original White Bear Tavern
where the first Cogers debate was held in 1755.
Dickens wrote about the Cogers in All the Year Round
and is generally believed to have used it as the basis
for the debating society described in Sketches by
Boz. Other notable members and guests have included
King George the IV (as Prince Regent, King Edward VII
(as Prince of Wales), King Louis Philippe and Emperor
Napoleon III of France, Edmund Burke, Oliver
Goldsmith, Daniel OConnell (often thought to have
honed his oratorical skills with the Cogers) and
several Lord Mayors, Chief Justices, members of both
houses of parliament and other luminaries of state and
society. See www.cogers.org for more details