Economics, the Queen, and the Wrong Sort of Maths
Last year the Queen attended a tutorial at the LSE about the credit crunch, and asked the not-unreasonable question, why economists hadn’t seen the economic crisis coming. Her Majesty’s question has raised a very defensive response from a number of economists who have written and published answers for her. One such answer comes from ten leading economists who argue that the training of economists has led them down the path to more maths, and less understanding. Bridget Rosewell, one of the economists who wrote the letter, spoke with Evan Davis about it on the Today programme on Saturday – the link to that interview is here. She is Chief Economist to the Greater London Authority and her research interests focus on the economic performance of local economies, the performance of markets, and business organisations. In 2007 she was named as one of the 25 most powerful people in London by the Evening Standard newspaper, and so she was an excellent person to explain the solution offered to the Queen on the Today programme on Saturday, which is that the ethos of economics has been distorted by the Wrong Sort of Maths.
read more...»Tim Harford at the LSE
Tim’s new book Dear Economist: The Very Best Letters from the Dear Economist Column is due for release in early August.
And he is scheduled to speak at the LSE on the 6th of October - The London School of Economics, “The Consolations of Economics”, 6.30 pm, 6 October 2009 - further details will be posted on the LSE web site, look under public events.
Four Visiting Economists
Here are details of four visiting economists all of whom are speaking in London in the next few weeks
read more...»Wolf and Hutton at the LSE
Another visit to the LSE tonight for the Ralph Miliband public discussion on the global financial crisis. Will Hutton (Work Foudnation) and Martin Wolf (Financial Times) in conversation and taking questions from the floor.
Briefly
read more...»Sunlight is a great disinfectant
Who to blame? Who to target in the search for the culprits behind the great banking crisis which has mutated from a calamity in private sector credit and derivatives markets into a broader, damaging economic and social disaster. Playing the blame game is easier armed with the benefit of hindsight. But with each passing day it becomes clear that what we have seen is a multi-tiered case study in market and governing failure. Ordinary citizens — whose pensions and living standards are now threatened and blighted by the folly of financiers blinded by their own hubris and greed — will not easily accept that the current generation of leaders are the people to lead us out of this mess.
read more...»The Ascent of Money
Niall Ferguson, Professor of International History at Harvard University, Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University has a new series due shortly on Channel 4 with the title The Ascent of Money. There is a public lecture at the LSE on Thursday 6th November for those interested in going. Details available here.
LSE podcasts
A terrific resource for those unable to get across to the London School of Economics - the LSE podcasts are available on iTunes.
Why Economics Matters
This looks like a tremendous event at the LSE in a couple of weeks
Why Economics Matters
Date: Tuesday 20 May 2008
Time: 6.30-8pm
Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building
Speakers: Professor Orazio Attanasio, Tim Harford, Professor Klaus Nielsen, Martin Wolf, Chair: Evan Davis
Further details available here
My Word is my Bond
Clara Furse, the CEO of the London Stock Exchange offered a vivid and revealing insight into the many functions of a modern stock exchange in a globalizing world when she spoke to the Eton College Keynes Society on the 24th of April.
read more...»Public Lectures at the LSE
The summer programme for the public lecture series at the LSE has just been published and can be found here. Two speakers in particular caught my eye.
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