June 2007
Sustaining growth and promoting inclusion in India's economy and society
Professor Lord Meghnad Desai and Sir Nicholas Stern are among a panel of distinguished speakers to debate sustaining growth and promoting inclusion in India's economy and society, on Tuesday 26 June at LSE.
The event, organised by the Asia Research Centre| at the School, will start at 6.45pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building. The full line up of speakers is:
* Professor Stuart Corbridge, head of the Development Studies Institute at LSE.
* Professor Lord Meghnad Desai, an emeritus professor of LSE.
* Krishna Kumar, director of Tata Sons.
* Professor S Parasuraman , director of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
* Professor Sir Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government and director of the Asia Research Centre at LSE.
For further information, please visit the LSE News and Media pages.
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May 2007
Conference in honour of Peter Michael Robinson's 60th Birthday
On Friday 25th and Saturday 26th May 2007, a conference was held to mark the special occasion of Peter Michael Robinson's 60th birthday. Professor Robinson, whose research covers econometrics, time series analysis, nonparametric inference and semiparametric inference, has been Tooke Professor of Economic Science and Statistics at the LSE since 1995. The conference was attended by senior academics, including many of Professor Robinson's past PhD students. Presentations were given by leading experts with the opening address given by professor Oliver Linton and Professor Hidalgo.
For further information on Professor Robinson's research, please visit his personal page.
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Department of Economics Professors elected AEA Foreign Honorary Members
Professors Tim Besley and John Sutton have been elected Foreign Honorary Members of the American Economic Association (AEA). Besley and Sutton join 38 distinguished and leading international experts also elected to this prestigious lifelong membership. For a full listing of existing members, please refer to the AEA website: Foreign Honorary Members.
More information on Professor Besley's research can be found on Tim Besley's page.
More information on Professor Sutton's research can be found on John Sutton's page.
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Call for Papers: Lionel Robbin's Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science - 75th Anniversary
This year marks the 75th anniversary of Lionel Robbins's Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science. The Department of Economics at LSE and the editors of Economica have decided to mark this anniversary by a conference and a special issue of the journal.
The purpose of this conference is both to renew the considerations of Robbins's theme and reflect on the current nature and significance of economic science as well as examine Robbins's own position from a historical perspective.
Paper Submissions/Further Information:
The conference will take place at LSE on the 10th and 11th December 2007. Authors who wish to present a paper should send an abstract (no more than 300 words)by email to: ec.robbins.conference@lse.ac.uk by 31st July 2007.
Amos Wtztum and Frank Cowell
Conference organizers
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The LSE Economics Debates 2007: A debate between two Professors of Economics
Topic: "Steep inequality is the price the US pays for its successful economic performance. That price is too high."
Debate: Professor Francesco Caselli, Professor Danny Quah
Moderator: Professor Chris Pissarides
Date: Thursday 10 May, 17.00-18.00pm
Venue: H216
This is the first of a series of events where the LSE Economics community will discuss and debate research-level questions, focusing on the large issues at stake.
The debate is open to Economics postgraduate students and Economics faculty only.
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April 2007
Call for Registrations: Decisions, Games and Logic Workshop, LSE, July 2007
A postgraduate workshop on "Decisions, Games and Logic" will be held at the LSE on the 18th and 19th July 2007.
Tutorials will be given by three leading academics together with short presentations from all student participants. The tutorials will be given by:
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Adam Brandenburger (NYU): Game Theory
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Richard Bradley (LSE): Decision Theory
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Johan van Benthem (Amsterdam and Stanford): Logic
Applications are open to students of any discipline, though some formal training will be an advantage. See the website for an indication of the level of the tutorials.
All students are expected to give a short informal presentation of their work and research interests. Some students may also apply to give formal presentations, which will be attended by the academics.
The deadline for applications is Monday 30 April 2007.
All enquiries to:
Tom Cunningham (Economics PhD Student) t.e.cunningham@lse.ac.uk or
Conrad Heilmann (Philosophy PhD Student) c.heilmann@lse.ac.uk
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Department of Economics MSc named most prestigious university degree in the world
Our MSc degree programme has been named one of the most 'prestigious and rewarding' degree programmes in the world. In an article for AOL's Find a Job Online Campus, Samuel Hui measures up our MSc against the most respected and recognised degree programmes worldwide.
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March 2007
Royal Statistical Society Medal awarded to Professor Howell Tong
Professor Howell Tong (Department of Statistics) has been awarded the Guy Medal in Silver from the Royal Statistical Society. His citation for this prize refers to Professor Tong's many important contributions to timeseries analysis over a distinguished career and in particular for his fundamental and highly influential papers, Threshold autogression, limit cycles, and cyclical data, which paved the way for a major body of work on nonlinear timeseries modelling.
The Guy Medal in Silver is awarded annually in respect of a paper or papers of special merit. More information on the award can be found at The Royal Statistical Society - Guy Medals.
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February 2007
First Economica Coase Lecture, London School of Economics, Thursday 22nd February 2007
We are delighted to announce that the first Economica Coase Lecture will be held in the Old Theatre at 6.30pm on Thursday 22 February 2007. The lecture, entitled "Contracts, Reference Points , and the Theory of the Firm", will be given by Oliver Hart, the Andrew E. Furer Professor of Economics at Harvard university.
Hosted jointly by Economica and the Department of Economics, it launches two new annual lecture series, the Coase Lecture and the Phillips Lecture. These names reflect the authorship of the two most famous articles ever published in Economica (the 'Phillips Curve' article was the most heavily-quoted macroeconomics title of the 20th century; Ronald Coase won the Nobel Prize for his work on the theory of the firm which began with his Economica article).
In the inaugural Coase lecture, Oliver Hart will discuss how his recent work with john Moore on contracts as reference points can be used to shed light on the theory of the firm. Details of the lecture can be found at LSE Public Lectures and Events. The lecture is free and open to all, so please turn up at least 20 minutes before the start of the lecture to ensure you get a seat.
An audio-only podcast will be made available after the event from the public Lectures and Events - Podcasts website.
More information on Economica is available from Economica - Journal Information.
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January 2007
New Departmental MSc Tutor in Economics
We are delighted to announce that Dr Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay is the new Departmental MSc Tutor in Economics.
Dr Bandyopadhyay holds an LSE PhD in Development Studies. She is a lecturer at Oriel College in Oxford and a Research Fellow at STICERD in the Distribution Analysis Research Programme.
As Departmental MSc Tutor, Dr Bandyopadhyay will assume a dual role: she will be the principal point of contact for day to day dealings with MSc students; thus, she will coordinate and manage all MSc activity in the Department. She will see to raise the programme's external profile through organising fundraising activity and maintaining alumni relations. The academic programme itself remains the responsibility of the MSc Econ Programme Director, Professor Leonardo Felli.
Dr Bandyopadhyay is here as Departmental MSc Tutor 1.5 days a week. Her office is S667 (ext. 6488) and she will hold weekly office hours Thursdays 16.45 - 18.45.
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December 2006
Nicholas Stern to be first holder of the IG Patel Chair at the London School of Economics
Sir Nicholas Stern is to become the first holder of the IG Patel Chair at the London School of Economics and Political Science, heading a new India Observatory within LSE's Asia Research Centre.
The appointment was announced at LSE's third Asia Forum|, being held in New Delhi, India. Sir Nicholas was among speakers, including Indian prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, discussing issues around globalisation with more than 600 invited guests from academia, government and business organisations.
The new Chair is named after Dr IG Patel, the distinguished former governor of the Reserve Bank of India who was the ninth director of LSE between 1984 and 1990. Dr Patel died in July 2005, and the Forum is dedicated to him this year.
The IG Patel Chair in Economics and Government will lead the LSE India Observatory and honour the contribution IG Patel made to public life, UK-India relations and the School. The IG Patel Chair is supported by the Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of India.
Dr YV Reddy, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said: 'As a token of our gratitude and true to the emotional commitment of Dr Patel to the cause of higher education and scholarship in a globalised environment, we are associating with LSE in instituting a Chair in his memory.'
Sir Nicholas Stern will re-join LSE on 1 June 2007. Sir Nicholas will also be Director of the LSE Asia Research Centre and will contribute to climate change research at LSE.
He is currently head of the UK Government Economic Service, a position he has held since October 2003.
Sir Nicholas said: 'I am delighted to be coming back to LSE. IG Patel first gave me the opportunity to work at LSE, and it is a great honour to hold the Chair in his name. His friendship and guidance were cherished by all who knew him. Research on Asia and on economic development has been at the heart of my academic life. I am pleased to be able to continue this work and to develop and deepen the relationship between the LSE and India.'
Howard Davies, Director of LSE, said: 'We look forward to welcoming Nick Stern back to LSE. We are proud that he has agreed to honour Dr IG Patel's memory by taking up this Chair and directorship of the new India Observatory. His involvement as head of the Observatory and of our Asia Research Centre will enhance the School's reputation, take forward its work on Asia and continue the intellectual and political dialogue there has been between LSE and India for many years.'
For further information, please visit the LSE News and Media pages.
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Economics Undergraduate Prizes for 2005-2006
Congratulations are due to the Undergraduate Economics Prize winners for 2005-2006.
Economics Examiners Prize Year 1
Mr Tai Tik Chan
Mr Jin Wen Philip Chua
Ms Trang Thung Le
Ms Hui Fang Lee
Mr Yingtao Lu
Mr Rahul Taparia
Economics Examiners Prize Year 2
Mr Andrew Michael Furze
Ms Nupur Gupta
Mr Said ul Islam
Mr Mingyi Meng
Mr Chi Hieu Nguyen
Ms Karla Dewi Subrata
Economics Department Prize Year 3
Mr Sameer Desai
Mr Marcel Maskal
Mr Wen Hao Jonathan Ng
Ms Wai Lam Sham
Ms Quynh Mai Doan
J R (Bob) Gould Prize - Best performance by an Economics Dept student in Economics B (EC102)
Ms Trang Viet Ngoc Tran
Alwyn Young Prize/Economics Examiners Prize Yr 2 - Outstanding performance in micro economics in the 2nd year
Ms Wen Yang
Richard Goeltz Prize - Students being examined in economics or economic institutions, based on grades over the relevant subjects taken in the second year
Mr Patrick Hoyin Lam
Gonner Prize - Outstanding merit in the final year of BSc Economics
Ms Hiui Min Ng
Premchand Prize - Outstanding performance in the 3rd year paper in monetary economics
Mr Povilias Dapkevicius
Rishi Madlani Award - Top mark in Macroeconomic Principles paper (EC210)
Mr David Bryan Gregory
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November 2006
Dr Henry Overman awarded the August Lösch Prize
This year's August Lösch Prize has been awarded jointly to Dr Henry Overman of the Department of Geography and Environment and the Centre for Economic Performance and Dr Gilles Duranton of the University of Toronto, for their work in empirical spatial economic analysis. The August Lösch Prize was created in 1971 in honour of August Lösch (1906-1045), one of the founders of modern Regional Science. It rewards outstanding academic research in the field of Regional Science.
Their submitted paper, "Testing for Localization Using Micro-Geographic Data", is published in the Review of Economic Studies 72 (2005), 1077-1106.
Duranton and Overman gained their PhDs in Economics at the LSE in 1997 and 2000 respectively.
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Economics IAES Undergraduate Essay Finalist
Congratulations to third year undergraduate Saleem Bahaj, whose paper "The Low Cost Phenomenon: An Analysis of China's Deflationary Impact on the U.S. Economy" was selected as a finalist in the Undergraduate Best Paper Award competition at the recent International Atlantic Economic Society Conference.
Professor Francesco Caselli, who suggested that Saleem should submit his essay to the conference, described it as "a very nice paper on the effects of imports from China on US inflation. It showed remarkable maturity and skill".
Saleem said of the conference: "My trip to Philadelphia, to present my dissertation the for IAES best undergraduate paper competition, was a fantastic experience; it was chance to travel, see new places and meet new people as well as attend some interesting sessions on economics. The presentation took place on the Saturday afternoon; I spent the morning attending conference sessions and obviously doing some rehearsing. There were four finalists, each of us had 20 minutes to present to the panel of 8 judges and about twenty audience members. I felt my presentation went well, but the overall quality was very high and unfortunately I did not win. All of the finalists were, however, given a small cash prize and a very nice plaque."
After attending the Sunday morning sessions, Saleem had some free time before returning to London that night, so he went sightseeing. "I took a tour bus round the city and sampled a cheese steak from a street vendor, and I also fulfilled the old cliché of imitating Rocky on the steps of the art museum."
(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Steps)
Unfortunately, there was no-one around to capture Saleem's Rocky impersonation, but here he is with the other finalists at the awards ceremony.
At the International Atlantic Economic Society Conference - Saleem is pictured second from the left.
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October 2006
Professor Christopher Pissarides appointed to Norman Sosnow Chair in Economics
I am pleased to announce that Professor Christopher Pissarides has been appointed to the distinguished Norman Sosnow Chair in Economics. Professor Pissarides has done path breaking and fundamental research in macroeconomics and labour economics, and has applied his expertise in advising the European Union, the Central Bank of Cyprus, the World Bank, the OECD, and numerous others. (This Chair, formerly the Norman Sosnow Professorship in Banking and Finance, was previously held by Professor Charles Goodhart, from 1985 until his retirement in 2002.)
Danny Quah, Head of Department
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The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change
Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the UK Government Economic Service and former chief economist of the World Bank, will give the first Gurukul Chevening lecture on Tuesday 7 November at LSE.
His lecture will focus on the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. This was published on Monday 30 October, following its commissioning by the chancellor of the Exchequer in July 2005.
There is now clear scientific evidence that emissions from human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels for energy, are causing changes to the earth's climate. A sound understanding of the economics of climate change is a crucial underpinning to an effective global response to this challenge.
This lecture will be chaired by Professor Lord Desai.
For further information, please visit the LSE News and Media pages.
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September 2006
New Arrivals in the Department of Economics
Dr Guy Michaels (Lecturer)
Guy received his BSc from Tel-Aviv University in 2000, and his PhD from MIT earlier this year. His research interests include labour economics, international trade and economic development, and he will be teaching econometrics to undergraduates, micro and macro to students on the MPA programme, and labour economics to research students.
Dr Kevin Sheedy (Lecturer)
Kevin Sheedy recently obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, where he has been teaching econometrics and quantitative methods, but he took his BSc in Mathematics and Economics here at the LSE, graduating in 2001. His principle fields of interests are macroeconomics, monetary economics and macroeconometrics. Kevin will be teaching economic analysis to final year undergraduates, and macroeconomics to MRes students.
Professor Alwyn Young
Alwyn Young was educated at Cornell, Tufts University and Columbia, and holds PhDs in both Economics and Law and Diplomacy. He comes to us from Chicago GSB, where he was appointed as the Joseph Sondheimer Professor of International Economics and Finance in 1997; previously, he was a Professor of Economics at Boston University from 1995 to 1997, and Assistant Professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management from 1990 to 1995. Alwyn's research interests include productivity growth and international trade, and he is well known for his pioneering work on growth in the East Asian economies, and more recently, on the economics of AIDS in Africa. This year, he will be teaching Econ B to undergraduates.
Dr Maia Guell (Visitor)
Maia Guell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Business at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and a Research Affiliate in the Labour Economics Programme of CEPR. She received a PhD in Economics from the LSE in 2000, and was a post-doctoral student at Princeton University. She is visiting the Department of Economics for the 2006-07 session, and will be teaching Econ A and advanced economic analysis. Maia's research interests include labour economics, human resources, applied econometrics, law and economics.
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News Archive
Click on the News Archive to read the news of previous years.
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