June 2004
Congratulations to Nick Stern!
Congratulations to Nick Stern, visiting Professor of Economics, who was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's birthday honours list for services to economics.
Nick is a former Professor of Economics at the LSE and was subsequently Chief Economist at the EBRD and the World Bank. He is now second permanent Secretary at H.M. Treasury and Head of the Government Economics Service.
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LSE academic to speak on pensions at BA Festival of Science
Professor Tim Besley will speak in a session on pension reform and the welfare of pensioners at this year's BA Festival of Science which is being held at the University of Exeter, 6-10 September.
The BA Festival of Science is the UK's longest-established science festival. Organised by the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA), the theme of this year's festival is 'the responsibility of being a scientist'.
For further information, please visit the LSE News and Media pages.
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May 2004
Launch of the Economics Alumni Network/Economics Department Initiative
A lecture for MSc Alumni on Economic Performance and the Idea of Social Capital, given on May 19th by BP Visiting Professor Partha Dasgupta, marked the launch of the Economics Alumni Network and the Economics Department Initiative at LSE.
The Economics Department Initiative will be essential to sustaining the competitiveness of the LSE Department of Economics. The Initiative is geared toward providing salaries and PhD scholarships at a level that will allow us to contend for academic talent with the top U.S. departments. We are grateful for the support of our alumni, and to the many others who have already contributed to the Initiative.
The Economics Alumni Network is an exciting development that will provide an opportunity for alumni to keep in touch through networking events, dedicated seminars and lectures geared toward keeping abreast of current research.
The first project for the Network will be the creation of a mentorship/internship scheme. The scheme aims to provide valuable work experience for our students and an opportunity for alumni to keep abreast of our postgraduate programmes, as an aid to meeting possible employment needs. Our teaching programmes are tremendously important to us, and we are pleased that our first project will be to bring current and past MSc students together.
Please contact Jane Bohannon at j.e.bohannon@lse.ac.uk or 020 7955 6423 in the Department of Economics if you would like to find out more about joining the Network or participating as a mentor. If you would like to enquire about the Economics Department Initiative, please contact Jane Park in the Development Office at j.j.park@lse.ac.uk or 020 7955 7852.
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Duncan Black Prize awarded to Professor of Economics
Tim Besley, Professor of Economics and Political Science, has been awarded the Duncan Black Prize (jointly with Stephen Coate of Yale University) for his paper "On the Public Choice Critique of Welfare Economics", published in the journal Public Choice in 2003.
Further information on Professor Besley's work can be obtained from his website.
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Whither America? Economist Paul Krugman to speak at LSE
The United States has long been the outlier among Western democracies, with lower taxes and a less extensive welfare state than Europe or Canada. Over the last three years a powerful political coalition has made a push to widen that gap still further, shrinking the revenue base and launching an attack on the core social insurance programs. Is America about to become a very different country?
Professor Paul Krugman will speak on the economic status of America at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on Wednesday 26 May.
Paul Krugman is one of the world's most famous economists. As a researcher he invented the 'new trade theory' and won the John Bates Clark Medal for the best American economist under 40. He is a prolific author and writes a column in the New York Times. He holds a chair at Princeton. His new book The Great Unravelling has been a national bestseller in the US.
Professor Lord Layard, LSE, will chair this event.
For further information, please visit the LSE News and Media pages.
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April 2004
Nicholas Stern to speak on Inclusion, Changing Preferences and Public Policy
The promotion of growth which provides rising living standards for all sections of society requires an active state whose role should include fostering a favourable climate for economic and investment activity and empowering and investing in people so that they are included. The development of institutions is central to this.
Nicholas Stern FBA, HM Treasury and the Government Economic Service, will give a public lecture at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on Tuesday 4 May.
He will speak on Inclusion, Changing Preferences and Public Policy, examining the relations of inclusion and empowerment to public policy and, in particular, the challenge of analysing and formulating public policy in the context of changing preferences.
Nicholas Stern FBA is second permanent secretary at HM Treasury and head of the Government Economic Service. He was chairman for LSE's Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD) from 1987-93 and is currently a visiting professor at LSE.
For further information, please visit the LSE News and Media pages.
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LSE academics at the Royal Economic Society Conference 2004
Ten academics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) presented papers on a wide range of issues at the Royal Economic Society Annual Conference, Monday 5 to Wednesday 7 April.
Academics from the Centre for Economic Performance, STICERD, and the Centre for the Economics of Education at LSE who presented papers were:
* Silvia Pezzini: The Effect of Women's Rights on Women's Welfare: evidence from a natural experiment
* Professor John Van Reenen: Active Labour Market Policies: international lessons and an evaluation of the New Deal
* Berta Esteve-Volart: Gender Discrimination and Growth: theory and evidence from India
* Tsung-Ping Chung, Professor Peter Dolton and Professor Andrew Tremayne: The Determinants of Teacher Supply: time series evidence for the UK, 1962-2001
* Fernando Galindo-Rueda and Dr Anna Vignoles: The Declining Relative Importance of Ability in Predicting Educational Attainment
* Professor Stephen Machin and Dr Sandra McNally: The Literacy Hour
* Dr Steven McIntosh: The Impact of Post-school Vocational Qualifications on the Labour Market Outcomes of Low-achieving School Leavers in the UK Hour
* Professor Stephen Machin and Olivier Marie: Crime and Benefit Cuts
This year the conference is held at the University of Wales, Swansea.
For further information, please visit the LSE News and Media pages.
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December 2003
New Fellow of the Econometric Society
Congratulations are due to Professor Tony Venables on his recent election to a Fellow of the Econometric Society.
Professor Venables' election brings to 8 the number of current Fellows based in the Department of Economics. Other members of the department who are Fellows of the Econometric Society include Profs Kiyotaki, Sutton, Nickell, Hardman-Moore, Pissarides, Besley, Robinson.
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November 2003
"Economics and Human Rights: common ground or continual conflict?"
Economics and human rights are two of the largest areas of modern intellectual life yet they seem at polar opposites in our post Cold War society, with economics emphasising efficiency and the optimal use of resources while human rights focuses on the dignity of the individual and the demands of justice and fairness. Is there any common ground between these two big ideas? Must they exhaust themselves in perpetual opposition or are there things that each can sensibly learn from the other?
The Centre for the Study of Human Rights hosts a debate on Economics and Human Rights: common ground or continual conflict? at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on Thursday 20 November.
Speakers on the panel will be:
* Professor Timothy Besley, director of the Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD) at LSE.
* Geraldine Van Bueren, professor of international human rights law at Queen Mary, University of London and also in the University of Cape Town.
* Alfredo Sfeir-Younis, an economist and a senior advisor to the Managing Directors Office at the World Bank.
David Gordon, director of the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research, University of Bristol, will chair this event.
For further information, please visit the LSE News and Media pages.
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October 2003
New Centre for Economic Performance appointments
I am very pleased to confirm that John van Reenen has accepted the offer of a Chair in the Economics Department with effect from 1 October 2003. Subject to confirmation from the Economic and Social Research Council, he will take over as Director of Centre for Economic Performance from that date. John is currently Profesor of Economics at University College London and also Director of the Innovation and Productivity Programme at CEP. He has previously been economic adviser to the Secretary of State for Health, a Research Fellow at Institute for Fiscal Studies and a Visiting Professor at Berkeley. He has published extensively on productivity, skills, innovation and R&D both in academic journals and in applied and more popular publications.
I am also very pleased to confirm that Steve Machin has agreed to become Research Director of CEP with effect from 1st October 2003. (This is also to be confirmed by ESRC). Steve is already Director of the Centre for Economics of Education at CEP as well as being Professor of Economics and Head of the Economics Department at UCL, and he will retain these responsibilities in addition to the Research Directorship. Steve has of course published very extensively on many aspects of labour economics and has for many years been crucial to the success of CEP.
These new arrangements offer the best possible prospects for the success of CEP in the future and I am sure all in the Department will want to join me in welcoming John and Steve to these appointments
Further information can be found at the LSE Press Office website.
Richard Jackman
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New British Academy Fellows
Congratulations are due to Professor Nobuhiro Kiyotaki and Professor Lord Richard Layard on their election to British Academy Fellows.
Election to the Fellowship of the British Academy is a prestigious recognition of both academic achievement and scholarly distinction. All Fellows have a published body of work with the main research fields being in the humanities or social sciences. The Academy aims to 'represent the interests of scholarship nationally and internationally; to give recognition to excellence; to promote and support advanced research; to further international collaboration and exchange; to promote public understanding of research and scholarship; to publish the results of research.'
Current members of the department who are Fellows of the British Academy are Professors Besley, Goodhart, Hardman Moore, Nickell, Pissarides, Robinson, Stern, and Sutton.
Further details on the award can be obtained from the LSE News pages.
Further information on the British Academy is available from the academy's website.
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Placement of our PhD Job Market Candidates
Congratulations to the Department's PhD job market candidates who have successfully gained employment starting in Autumn 2003. Employment opportunities have been offered to our candidates by renowned academic and non-academic institutions, worldwide. This clearly shows the high demand for individuals with competent and professional research skills that our vibrantly structured PhD programme provides.
A list of our candidates and their destinations is provided at the PhD Job Market pages.
We wish all our candidates good luck in their future careers!
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News Archive
Click on the News Archive to read the news of previous years.
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