When Freakonomics was first published, Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner started a blog—and they’ve kept it up, tallying more than 8,000 blog posts on Freakonomics.com and pulling in 12 million page views per year. The best are now published in When to Rob a Bank. At this event, Stephen Dubner shares the Freakonomic secrets to making economic ideas fresh and entertaining through their blog and podcast (which has been downloaded a freakish 150million times). You’ll discover what people lie about, and why; why it might be time for a sex tax (if not a fat tax); and, yes, when to rob a bank. (Short answer: never; the ROI is terrible.)

Stephen J Dubner (@freakonomics) is an award-winning writer and radio and TV personality. He has written six books, including theFreakonomics trilogy and is host of Freakonomics Radio.

Tim Harford (@TimHarford) is a senior columnist for the Financial Times and the presenter of Radio 4’s More or Less and Pop-Up Economics With Tim Harford. His books include The Undercover Economist, The Logic of Life, Adapt and The Undercover Economist Strikes Back.

The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching.

The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #LSEDubner

Podcast & Video 

A podcast and video of this event is available to download from When to Rob a Bank: a rogue economist's guide to the world

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.