October 2008
Award-winning economists show teaching and research excellence
Four economists from the London School of Economics and Political Science have won awards for their excellent teaching. Specifically Professor Alwyn Young| and Iain Long| shared the Outstanding Teaching Award for 2008 in the Learning and Teaching in Economics Awards which are run by the Economics Network.
In the category for teachers nominated by their own students, Kosuke Aoki and Sanchari Roy were both commended - meaning that LSE staff took four of the seven prizes on offer.
For more information, visit the LSE News| pages.
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New British Academy Fellow
Congratulations are due to Professor Oliver Linton on his election to the British Academy Fellowship.
Election to the Fellowship 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 and are required to have 'attained distinction in any of the branches of study which it is the object of the Academy to promote'. There are eight objectives which the British Academy seeks to promote, see the Academy's pages|.
Professor Linton's research interests include econometric theory; nonparametric and semiparametric methods; and empirical finance.
Further details on the award can be found at Elections to the Fellowship 2008|.
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June 2008
Professor Charles Bean appointed Deputy Governor of the Bank of England for Monetary Stability
Professor Charles Bean, previous Head of Department, has been appointed Deputy Governor of the Bank of England for Monetary Stability. The appointment is for a five year term and carries with it membership of the Monetary Policy Committee. Under the terms of the Bank of England Act 1998, the appointment was made by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and Chancellor.
Professor Bean joined the London School of Economics as a lecturer in 1982, becoming Professor of Economics in 1990 and Head of Department in 1999. Professor Bean is widely published on matters relating to the European Monetary Union, European Unemployment and Macroeconomics. His current role at the Bank of England is Executive Director and Chief Economist, having been appointed to this position on 1 October 2000. Professor Bean continues to be a Visiting Professor to the Department of Economics.
For further information on the appointment, please go to HM Treasury: Press Release|.
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Professor Alwyn Young wins award for EC102 Economics B
Alwyn Young|, Professor of Economics and Huth Fellow, has won an LSE SU Teaching Excellence Award this year for his work on the course EC102 Economics B. The award is based on six criteria: stimulating interest and enthusiasm; stimulating students' ability to be independent, critical learners; providing excellent learning materials; ensuring students receive useful feedback; enabling students to engage with current thinking in the field of study; responding to the diverse needs of students.
Student feedback included:
"charismatic" "enthusiastic and brilliant teaching" "contagious enthusiasm" "loves what he does and spreads it naturally to people around him" "you really get the impression he loves what he does, which is cool" "talent for turning hard and complicated theories into a piece of cake" "by presenting articles from newspapers.. explains how what we are studying can be applied.. to reality" "discusses issues happening all over the world relating to the diversity of the students"
"lecture notes and quizzes are designed to enable you to think critically and independently" "provides incomplete diagrams .. we could only fill in during his lectures" "problem sets really test our understanding" "posted games on WebCT.. to spark people's interest.. even set a novel as one of the textbooks... made learning fun!" "doesn't spoon feed us.. have to understand in order to do the questions." "challenging and stimulating... where students are encouraged to actively apply theories to real life scenarios" "constantly amazed by the effort he has put into organising our course pack" "would recap topics" where class teachers had indicated students had problems.
One student observed that with several hundred students in the lecture Professor Young "strikes a perfect balance between reaching out to ..academically weaker and providing an intellectually rigorous learning environment for the academically stronger" "in office hours answered all my questions with patience".
And finally..."First time I've done economics, and I love it!" "An example to others... dedicated teaching excellence."
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April 2008
Professor Tim Besley gives the 2007/8 Richard Ely Distinguished Lecture Series
Professor Tim Besley| spoke on "The Economics of State Capacity" at the 2007/8 Richard Ely Distinguished Lecture Series, John Hopkins University. This annual event takes place over three consecutive days to honour Richard Ely who was a Professor of Political Economy at John Hopkins University from 1881 to 1892.
Professor Besley will talk on the 'Dynamics of state formation - fiscal and legal capacity', 'Strong states and weak states' and 'Some current issues in U.K. monetary policy'.
Details on the lectures can be found at JHU: Department of Economics Ely Lectures|.
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'Crunching Globalisation: Global Imbalance and Global Inequality' - A public lecture given by Professor Danny Quah
Professor Danny Quah| spoke on 'Crunching Globalisation: Global Imbalance and Global Inequality' for a Public Lecture hosted by Dublin City University Business School| (DCUBS). The lecture was opened by Professor Bernard Pierce and Professor Anne Scott, Deputy President of DCU.
Prof. Quah's lecture discussed the economic performance of Ireland in the world economy, globalisation, economic growth and inequality.
Further information on this event can be found at DCU Business School - News| along with a podcast.
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February 2008
Professor of Economics awarded the Republic of Cyprus 'Aristeion'
Christopher Pissarides|, Professor of Economics, was awarded the Republic of Cyprus "Aristeion", the highest award that can be given to a Cypriot for achievements in literature, the arts and science. The award was made by the President of the Republic at a special ceremony in Nicosia on 4 February.
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January 2008
Thinking Like a Social Scientist: A lecture by Professor Danny Quah
On 24 January 2008, Professor Danny Quah| gave a lecture on "Thinking Like a Social Scientist", part of a series of lunchtime lectures to be given by nine of LSE's most senior academics. This lecture series seeks to explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day.
A podcast of Professor Quah's lecture is available as an mp3 file from LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts|. To download the slides handout go to How some economists think| (PDF).
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Economics Academic receives IZA Young Labor Economist Award 2007
Dr Oriana Bandiera| has been awarded the IZA Young Labor Economist Award (2007)| during an IZA reception held at the Annual Meetings of the Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) in New Orleans. The award honours Dr Bandiera along with her co-authors, Iwan Barankay (University of Warwick) and Imran Rasul (University College London), for their joint paper "Social Preferences and the Response to Incentives: Evidence from Personnel Data|" (Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2005).
The IZA Young Labor Economist Award is presented to young researchers who have written and published an outstanding paper in labor economics. Nominations for the award are sent by IZA Research Fellows, these are then screened by the IZA Program Directors, who each propose three papers. On the basis of these proposals, the prize-winner(s) are selected.
More information on the award can be found at the Institute for the Study of Labor| pages.
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2008 Economica Phillips Lecture
The Department of Economics is delighted to announce that the 2008 Economica Phillips Lecture will be given by Robert Lucas, the John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago. One of the world's leading authorities on monetary theory, growth and development, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1995.
The lecture, entitled 'Schooling and Growth', will be held in the Old Theatre at the LSE at 6.30pm on Thursday 7th February. Hosted jointly by Economica and the Department of Economics, the Economica Phillips Lecture the first in a new lecture series named to reflect the authorship of one of the most famous articles ever published in Economica (the "Phillips Curve" article, published 50 years ago this year, was the most heavily-cited macroeconomics title of the 20th century). Following this year's inaugural lecture the Economica Phillips lecture will be given every other year, in rotation with the Economica Coase lecture series (after Ronald Coase's celebrated work on the theory of the firm which began with his Economica article), which was inaugurated in 2007.
Details of the event can be found at the LSE Public Events| pages. Admission is free and open to all, so please turn up at least 20 minutes before the start of the lecture to ensure that you get a seat.
An audio-only podcast will be made available after the event from the Public Lectures and Events - Podcasts| website. Download| the poster of the lecture.
More information on Economica is available from Economica - Journal Information|.
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December 2007
Outstanding Teaching Award for Teaching Assistant
Manuel Palazuelos-Martinez has received the Outstanding Teaching Award from the Higher Education Academy Economics Network|. The 2007 Learning and Teaching in Economics Awards have praised Manuel for his commitment to transforming and improving the quality of class teaching. The award is given in recognition of exemplary teaching practice that encourages understanding of and inspire interest in economics. The award is joint with Robert Hoffmann (University of Nottingham).
Manuel has previously received the Department's teaching prize in economics for four consecutive years.
Further details on the award can be found at Learning and Teaching Awards: Results 2007|.
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Economics Academics to receive Excellence Award in Global Economic Affairs
Dr Steve Redding| and Dr Silvana Tenreyro| have been selected to receive the 2008 Excellence Award in Global Economic Affairs from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy|. The aim of this prestigious award is to bring together young researchers within the field of global economic affairs. Researchers are given intellectual, financial and administrative support by the Kiel Institute in order for pursue their research fields further.
Dr Redding will be awarded the "Porsche Fellowship" and Dr Tenreyro will receive the "Landeshauptstadt Kiel Fellowship".
Details on the awards can be found at Excellence Awards in Global Economics Affairs|.
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Professor of Economics to become EEA President
Tim Besley|, Kuwait Professor of Economics and Political Science, has been elected to serve as President of the European Economic Association| for the period 2008-2011. Serving on the EEA's Executive Committee for a total of four years, Tim will undertake the roles of Vice President in January 2008, and then President - Elect in 2009 followed by President in 2010.
Tim will be succeeding Nick Stern| who will be President in 2009.
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Economics Professors Appointments at the Econometric Society
Oliver Linton, Professor of Econometrics, has been elected a Fellow of the Econometric Society|. Election is made by a vote of existing fellows and is considered a great honour in the economics profession.
John Moore, Professor of Economics, has been elected second Vice-President of the Econometric Society| and will take on the role of President in 2010.
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November 2007
Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures: "The Psychology of Saving and Investment"
Speaker: Professor David Laibson, Harvard University
Date: November 19, 20 and 21 at 6.30 pm
Venue: Old Theatre, LSE, Old Building, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE
These lectures are free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first serve basis. For further information please refer to CEP Special Events: Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures|.
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Lionel Robbins's Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science - 75th Anniversary Conference
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.
The conference will take place at LSE on the 10th and 11th December 2007.
Places are limited so please register by downloading and completing the form from the STICERD| website below.
For further information, please go to STICERD Special Events: Lionel Robbins's Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science|.
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Sir Nicholas Stern awarded Political Publication of the Year
Sir Nicholas Stern|, IG Patel Chair in Government and Economics at LSE, has been awarded the Political Studies Association's (PSA) Political Publication of the Year award it was announced today (Tuesday 27 November).
He was awarded the prize for the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, commissioned by Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, and published in October 2006.
This is the first time that the judges have awarded the Political Publication of the Year to a report. The Political Studies Association writes that: 'this reflects the importance of Sir Nicholas Stern's report on global warming, which provided an admirably clear and balanced analysis of the magnitude of the problem of global warming. The report provided conclusive proof that doing nothing is simply not an option and, in highlighting the looming costs of climate change, has provided the economic impetus for rapid international action to combat the problem. It was welcomed by the British government and the European Commission and, importantly, it also received support from business groups.'
Nicholas Stern said: 'I am delighted with the honour. It is a testament to the work of the whole team that produced the Review. Understanding of this issue has increased dramatically in this last year and we have an opportunity at the UNFCCC in Bali next month to make real progress.'
The PSA awards are based on nominations received from the PSA's 1700 politics professors, lecturers and researchers, and the final decisions are made by a judging panel chaired by Lord Bihkhu Parekh.
For more on the awards, please visit the Political Studies Association| pages.
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Photographs in the Economics Department
In an effort to improve the learning and working environment of St Clements Building, an email was sent to Economics academic and administrative staff, and to research students, asking them to submit their own photographs to be hung on the walls of floors 3-8. Happily, we had an excellent response - by the start fo the Summer Term, we had received about 130 images, of which 50 of the most striking were selected as "finalists". These were uploaded onto the web, and members fo the Department were invited to view them and vote for their favourites. In total, 214 votes were cast, and of these, the 30 most popular photos were printed and framed.
Last week, these 30 photos were hung on the walls of St Clements Builidng. Once more, we would like to thank everyone who submitted their photos and took part in voting; we hope staff and students will agree with Mike McMahon, one of our PhD students, that the photographs make the Economics Department "a more personable place, and leave a nice impression on members, students and visitors".
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October 2007
Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government, appointed House of Lords Non-Party-Political Peer
The House of Lords Appointments Commission has announced two new non-party-political peers - Professor Nicholas Stern| (LSE) and Haleh Afshar (University of York).
For further information, please go to LSE Press Office| and House of Lords Appointments Commission - new Non-Party-Political Peers|.
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Department of Economics Professor named IMS Fellow
Oliver Linton, Professor of Econometrics, has been named IMS Fellow by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics| (IMS). Established in 1933, the IMS fosters the development and dissemination of the theory and applications of statistics and probability. The IMS has a membership of 4500 with fellowships being awarded by a peer review committee.
Profesor Linton's research covers econometric theory, nonparametric and semiparametric methods, and empirical finance. In awarding the fellowship, the IMS describe Professor Linton's research as making "extensive and influential contributions to statistical and econometric theory".
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Another first for studying economics
The LSE has been ranked first for studying economics by the 2007 Good University Guide|. Details on the subject tables can be found at Good University Guide: the top UK universities by subject|.
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Conference Announcement: ESAM 2008
Please visit the pages of the New Zealand Association of Economists|.
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News Archive
Click on the News Archive| to read the news of previous years.
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