September 2012
Kaushik Basu, former Economics PhD, named World Bank Chief Economist
Kaushik Basu who recently served as the economic adviser to the Indian government has been appointed as the Chief Economist of World Bank. Professor Basu, currently on leave from his position as Professor at Cornell University, holds a doctorate from the Economics Department at LSE. He has founded the Centre for Development Economics at the Delhi School of Economics and has written several books.
For more information, please visit the BBC News India page.
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August 2012
Teaching Fellow wins FEEM award (Young Economist Award)
Congratulations to Fadi Hassan, a Teaching Fellow at the Department of Economics and PhD student at the Department of International Development, who has won the prestigious FEEM award for his paper "The Price of Development"!
On August 29, 2012, the FEEM Award was conferred for the fourth year during the European Economic Association (EEA) Annual Congress at the University of Malaga in Spain.
FEEM stands for Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and the prize used to be called the Young Economist Prize. The prize is given to the authors of the three best papers presented by young economists at the Annual Congress of the European Economic Association.
A short description of Fadi's paper is below:
"The Price of Development": The Penn effect is the stylized fact that richer countries also face higher price levels, with the Balassa-Samuelson model of sectoral differences in productivity growth providing the most well known explanation for this pattern. Fadi Hassan revisits this empirical pattern and shows an important nonlinearity: it turns out that the price-income relation is actually negative for low income countries before turning positive at higher levels of development. Hassan shows that this non-linear pattern can be explained by a development process by which productivity growth is initially concentrated in agriculture, which tends to be largely a non-tradable sector in low-income countries.
For further information on the award, please visit the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei pages.
For further information on Fadi's research, please visit his personal webpage.
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July 2012
Lord Stern Elected President of the British Academy
The British Academy has today announced that its next president from July 2013 will be Nicholas Stern, I.G. Patel Professor of Economics and Government and chair of a number of research centres at London School of Economics and Political Science.
Welcoming the news, Professor Judith Rees CBE, director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, said:
“I am extremely happy that the UK’s premier institution for the humanities and social sciences has elected Nicholas Stern to lead it.
Nick has a very distinguished career not only in the academic study of economics but also its application at the highest levels in organisations such as the World Bank and in Her Majesty’s Treasury. While he is perhaps known best for his work on climate change, Nick has an outstanding research record in public policy and development economics spanning more than 40 years.
It is a great privilege for LSE to have the president of the British Academy among its staff, and it is appropriate that Nick delivered our prestigious Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures earlier this year. I am personally very pleased about Nick’s election, and I am sure he will bring not only his tremendous intellect to the role but also his vast experience, sheer commonsense and good humour.
The humanities and social sciences, as well as higher education in general, face some very important challenges and I am sure that we will be in a better position to meet them with Nick leading the British Academy in the UK and abroad."
Lord Stern said: "I am honoured to have been elected President by the Fellows of the British Academy. The UK is fortunate in having world-class expertise in the humanities and social sciences with a vital part to play in understanding and tackling the many challenges faced in this country and the world as a whole. Further, these subjects are essential both to the quality of life and to the understanding of the reality and the potential, of individuals and societies. I look forward to working with the Fellows and staff of the Academy – the national leader for these disciplines – to advance the interests of outstanding scholarship and research, and to demonstrate their value and importance."
For further information, please visit the LSE News and Media and the British Academy news pages.
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2012 Undergraduate Examination Results
The Department would like to offer its congratulations to all students who have successfully completed their degree programmes this summer. The following students have achieved particularly outstanding results, receiving First Class Honours in all papers sat over each year of study:
Johannes Paul Dolfen - BSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
Yoke Suen Kan – BSc Economics
Harshil Shah - BSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
Neil Shah – BSc Economics
The Department wishes its students all the best in their future endeavours.
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Economics Graduation Ceremony
This year, the Graduation Ceremony for undergraduate and 9-month Masters students will take place on Thursday 12 July at 2pm at the Peacock Theatre.
There will be a reception immediately after the ceremony in one of the following venues: Fourth Floor Restaurant, New Academic Building, Shaw Library. The students ticket will show the exact venue.
Please visit the LSE student pages for further information on the Ceremony and on the the Reception.
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June 2012
LSE Public Lecture: "The Price of Inequality"
Date: Friday 29 June 2012
Time: 6.30-8pm
Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Joseph E Stiglitz
Chair: Professor Stephen P. Jenkins
In his new book, The Price of Inequality, which he will discuss in this lecture Joseph Stiglitz considers the causes of inequality, why is it growing so rapidly and what are its economic impacts? He explains that markets are neither efficient nor stable and will tend to accumulate money in the hands of the few rather than engender competition and considers our political system that frequently shapes markets in ways that advantage the richest over the rest. He shows how moving money from the middle and bottom of society to the top, far from stimulating entrepreneurship actually produces slower growth and lower GDP with even more instability. Redistributing wealth from the very rich would produce far greater gains overall in our economies than the rich would lose.
Joseph Stiglitz was Chief Economist at the World Bank until January 2000. He is currently University Professor of the Columbia Business School and Chair of the Management Board and Director of Graduate Summer Programs, Brooks World Poverty Institute, University of Manchester. He won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001 and is the best-selling author of Globalization and Its Discontents, The Roaring Nineties, Making Globalization Work and Freefall, all published by Penguin.
This event is free and open to all however a ticket is required, only one ticket per person can be requested (online ticket system after 10pm on Thursday 21 June till at least 12noon on Friday 22 June).
For further information please visit the LSE Public Events pages.
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The Amartya Sen Lecture by Joseph Stiglitz
Date: Thursday 28 June 2012
Time: 6.30-8pm
Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Joseph E Stiglitz
Discussant: Professor Amartya Sen
Chair: Professor Mary Kaldor
Joseph E Stiglitz was chief economist at the World Bank until January 2000. He is currently University Professor at Columbia University and won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001.
Amartya Sen teaches economics and philosophy at Harvard University, and was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, until 2004. He won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998. Professor Sen is an honorary fellow of LSE.
This event is supported by LSE's Department of International Development and STICERD.
Professor Stiglitz will also be speaking on Friday 29 June at 6.30pm about his new book, details of the event: The Price of Inequality.
This event is free and open to all however a ticket is required. One ticket per person can now be requested.
For further information, please visit the LSE Public Events pages.
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Professor Francesco Caselli appointed Norman Sosnow Chair in Economics
The Department of Economics is delighted to announce that the title of Norman Sosnow Chair in Economics has been bestowed upon Professor Francesco Caselli.
Formerly held by Charles Goodhart and Christopher Pissarides, the Norman Sosnow Chair was established in 1985 by prominent journalist and businessman Eric Sosnow in memory of his son Norman who died in an air crash in 1967 at the age of 23. Eric Sosnow, a graduate research student at LSE in 1936, and later a governor and honorary fellow of the School, also established travelling scholarships in his son’s name.
Professor Caselli joined the Economics Department in 2004 and is renowned for his work in macroeconomics, development economics and economic growth. He took up the title of Norman Sosnow Chair on 1 June 2012 and will deliver a public lecture to mark his appointment at the start of the next academic year. Commenting on his appointment, Professor Caselli said, “This is a great honour for me. It is also a bit scary considering that the previous holders have been Charles Goodhart and Chris Pissarides! There is no way I can match their achievements but I will try not to embarrass them.”
For further information about the Norman Sosnow Chair, please contact Mrs Viet-Anh Hua in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at v.a.to@lse.ac.uk.
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Departmental class teacher awards
We are proud to announce the winners and the runners up of the Departmental class teacher awards for 2012.
These awards recognise the special contribution made by graduate teaching assistants, teaching fellows and guest teachers to LSE's academic departments. The winners were nominated by the departments themselves as a result of exceptional feedback from students, lecturers and other department members.
The 2012 winners for the Department of Economics are:
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Magda Zurkowska
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Jonathan de Quidt
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Abhimanyu Gupta
And the runners up for Economics are:
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Thomas Carr
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Igor Cesarec
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Katarzyna Grabowska
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Fadi Hassan
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Felix Koenig
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Luis Martinez
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Revi Panidha
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TEDxLSE Danny Quah's Lecture
Professor Danny Quah has become the latest LSE academic to give a lecture for TEDxLSE, on 17 March 2012.
The lecture entitled: "Global Tensions from a Rising East", examines the "Great Shift East" and its implications for global economic policy.
You can view the lecture on the TEDxLSE YouTube Channel.
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May 2012
Brian Hindley Obituary
We are very sad to report that Brian Hindley, who was a Reader in Trade Policy at the Economics Department from 1967 to 1998, and also taught at the Department of International Relations between 2000 and 2007, died earlier this month.
He was considered the UK's foremost academic expert on the economics of commercial policy and worked on many areas including voluntary export restraints, trade in services and industrial policy.
An obituary by Martin Wolf has been published in the Financial Times entitled: Doughty campaigner for free trade and economic liberty.
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Danny Quah at Global Policy Discussion
Date: Tuesday 29 May 2012
Time: 6.00-8.00pm
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speakers: Pedro Carriço, Jon Coleman, Dr Hans-Joachim Henckel, Peter Luketa, Geetha Muralidhar, Professor Danny Quah, Lars H Thunell
Chair: Andreas Klasen
A look at the role of export credit agencies and financial institutions in promoting global trade and the challenges they face during Europe's sovereign debt crisis.
Pedro Carriço is Head of International Relations and Country Risk Department at Seguradora Brasileira de Crédito à Exportação.
Jon Coleman is Chairman of the British Exporters Association.
Hans-Joachim Henckel is head of division at the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
Peter Luketa is global head of export finance at HSBC Bank plc.
Geetha Muralidhar is executive director of Export Credit Guarantees Corporation of India LTD.
Danny Quah is professor of economics at LSE.
Lars H Thunell is executive vice president and CEO of International Finance Corporation.
This event is free and open to all however a ticket is required. For further information, visit the LSE Public Events pages.
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Chris Pissarides appointed School Professor
Chris Pissarides was appointed as a School Professor of Economics and Political Science on 1 April 2012.
The position of School Professor recognises those individuals who are of world stature in their field, with a hefty body of publications behind them, and a reputation for forging significant links with other disciplines. Scholl Professors have direct responsibility to the Director for initiating and fostering interdisciplinary research and teaching in order to strengthen the intellectual life of the School as a whole.
Chirs was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 2010 for his work on the economics of unemployment, especially job flows and the effects of being out of work.
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Silvana Tenreyro joins Mauritius' Monetary Policy Committee
Following a review of its composition by Sir Alan Budd (formerly of the MPC at the Bank of England), Dr Silvana Tenreyro has been appointed to the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Mauritius.
Silvana, who is also the Director of the Macroeconomics Programme at the International Growth Centre, and sits on the editorial board of several journals, will serve as one of its five new independent external members. We wish her every success in the role.
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Dr Myung Hwan Seo receives Young Scholar Award
Warm congratulations to Dr Myung Hwan Seo, who has been awarded the Korea - America Economics Association's Young Scholar Award 2012, jointly with Kyoungwon Seo (Northwestern University).
The award seeks to recognise young scholars' academic accomplishments and to foster scholarship in economics.
Myung, who joined the Economics Department in 2004, specialises in time series econometrics, especially threshold models; his research has been published in Econometric Theory and the Journal of Econometrics. He was presented with the award at a ceremony held during the Annual Meeting of the KAEC in Chicago on January 6, 2012, so apologies to Myung for the delay in acknowledging his well-deserved achievement.
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Podcast and video of Robert Shiller lecture: "Finance and the Good Society"
On the 3rd of May Professor Roberth Shiller gave a lecture marking the publication of his new book "Finance and the Good Society". The podcast and video of this lecture are now available at the LSE News and Media pages.
In his lecture, Professor Shiller argued that the reputation of the financial industry could hardly be worse than it is today with the on-going financial crisis. Robert Shiller said he is no apologist for the sins of finance--he claims to be probably the only person to have predicted both the stock market bubble of 2000 and the real estate bubble that led up to the subprime mortgage meltdown. However in his new book, he argues that, rather than condemning finance, we need to reclaim it for the common good. He makes a case for recognizing that finance, far from being a parasite on society, is one of the most powerful tools we have for solving our common problems and increasing the general well-being. We need more financial innovation--not less--and finance should play a larger role in helping society achieve its goals.
For more information, see the LSE Public Events pages.
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GPPN Best Article Prize to Professor Danny Quah
Global Policy and the Global Public Policy Network (GPPN) have announced the winner of the 2011 Best Article Prize. The winner is Danny Quah, author of "The Global Economy's Shifting Centre of Gravity" (Vol. 2, Issue 1, January 2011).
The article finds that in 1980 the global economy's centre of gravity was mid-Atlantic yet, by 2008 that centre had drifted to a location east of Helsinki and Bucharest. Extrapolating growth in almost 700 locations worldwide, the article projects the world's economic centre of gravity to be located between India and China by 2050.
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LSE Economics first among UK Economics departments for undergraduate education
The Complete University Guide has ranked the LSE Economics Department first among UK Economics departments for undergraduate education.
For further information, visit the Complete University Guide rankings.
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Department of Economics Public Lecture:
"End This Depression Now!"
Date: Tuesday 29 May 2012
Time: 6.30-8pm
Venue: Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street
Speaker: Professor Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman, the recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, is a best-selling author, columnist and blogger for The New York Times. A professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University, The Economist called him “the most celebrated economist of his generation”.
In his new book: "End This Depression Now!" which he will discuss in this event, Professor Krugman shows how the failure of regulation to keep pace with an increasingly out-of-control financial system positioned the United States and the world as a whole, for the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s. Decrying the tepid response thus far, he lays out the steps that must be taken to free ourselves and turn around a world economy stagnating in deep recession. His is a powerful message: a strong recovery is only one step away, if our leaders find the intellectual clarity and political will to see it through.
This event is free and open to all however a ticket is required, only one ticket per person can be requested. Further information can be found at the LSE Public Events pages.
The podcast of the event is available through the LSE News and Media pages. Download the podcast.
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Department of Economics Public Lecture:
"Finance and The Good Society"
Date: Thursday 3 May 2012
Time: 6.30-8pm
Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building
Speaker: Professor Robert Shiller
Chair: Professor Steve Pischke
Robert J. Shiller is the author of “Irrational Exuberance and The Subprime Solution”, and the co-author, with George A. Akerlof, of “Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy”, and “Why It Matters for Global Capitalism”. He is the Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics at Yale University. This event marks the publication of Professor Shiller's new book “Finance and the Good Society”.
In his lecture, Prof Shiller will argue that the reputation of the financial industry could hardly be worse than it is today with the on-going financial crisis. Robert Shiller says he is no apologist for the sins of finance - he claims to be probably the only person to have predicted both the stock market bubble of 2000 and the real estate bubble that led up to the subprime mortgage meltdown. However in his new book, he argues that, rather than condemning finance, we need to reclaim it for the common good. He makes a case for recognizing that finance, far from being a parasite on society, is one of the most powerful tools we have for solving our common problems and increasing the general well-being. We need more financial innovation - not less - and finance should play a larger role in helping society achieve its goals.
This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For any queries email events@lse.ac.uk or call 020 7955 6043. For more information, see the LSE Public Events pages.
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April 2012
LSE Growth Commission Evidence Session 2:
"Beyond GDP: Other Income Measures of Growth"
Date: Wednesday 2 May 2012
Venue: Institute for Government, 2 Carlton Gardens London, SW1Y 5AA
Time: 10.00am-12.00pm
Speakers: Sir Tony Atkinson (Centennial Professor at LSE), Paul Schreyer (Deputy Chief Statistician at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris), Jean-Paul Fitoussi (Professor Emeritus of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and the LUISS, Roma; Research Director at the Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Economiques).
The LSE Growth Commission aims to provide an authoritative input to the development of a growth strategy for the UK. The commission will report within one year. Along the way it is taking evidence from leading figures from academia, business and policy.
In this session, Tony Atkinson, Paul Schreyer, and Jean-Paul Fitoussi will give their views on the best ways of defining and measuring economic growth, including distributional considerations and sustainability issues, drawing on state of the art academic literature.
Places in this event are strictly limited, so if you would like to attend please RSVP to LSEGrowth@lse.ac.uk by Monday 30 April. Event information is also available online at the LSE Growth Commission pages.
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Professor Alan Manning's report on Minimum Wage
Minimum wage now lower than eight years ago
This year's planned increase in the national minimum wage will leave it lower than it was in 2004 after inflation is taken into account, according to a new report by LSE Professor Alan Manning for the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation.
The report, Minimum wage: Maximum Impact, acknowledges that recent caution on increases is justified but finds the impact of the national minimum wage (NMW) has now stalled. Citing overwhelming evidence that the national minimum wage has reduced wage inequality without damaging employment, Professor Manning considers options for future reform to ensure maximum impact without risking job losses. These ideas will be considered by the Resolution Foundation's Commission on Living Standards as it works towards its final report in the autumn.
For further information and full copies of the press release and the report, please visit the LSE News and Events pages.
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March 2012
LSE Open Day - Wednesday 21 March 2012
We are pleased to announce details fo the next LSE Open Day for prospective undergraduate students. The event has been designed to ensure that you get all of the information you need to make a well-informed choice about university.
Come and meet academic staff from the Department of Economics at the LSE undergraduate Open Day next Wednesday 21 March. Please see Open Day to book a place.
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LSE IDEAS Event on India - 12 March 2012:
"Indian Democracy's Ferocious Faultlines"
Date: Monday 12 March 2012
Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building
Time: 6.30-8.00pm
Speakers: Dr Mukulika Banerjee, Patrick French, Professor Sunil Khilnani, Professor Maitreesh Ghatak
Chair: Dr Ramchandra Guha
Overview: LSE IDEAS are hosting a panel debate on the underside of Indian Democracy titled "Indian Democracy's Ferocious Faultlines". Professor Maitreesh Ghatak from the Economics Department will form part of the panel alongside other experts on India from the LSE and elsewhere. The panel will focus on the underside of Indian democracy, as visible in, among other things, the insurgencies in Kashmir; a Maoist rebellion in the heart of India; growing inequalities between rich and poor; and the massively high rates of corruption within government.
More information at the LSE IDEAS Events page.
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LSE Growth Commission Evidence Session 1:
"The Role of Skills in a Growth Strategy for the UK"
Date: Wednesday 14 March 2012
Venue: LSE Research Lab, Room LRB.R405, 4th Floor Lionel Robbins Building
Time: 9.45am for 10.00am start. Ends: 12.00pm
Speakers: Eric Hanushek (Stanford University) and Steve Machin (UCL)
Overview: In this session, Eric Hanushek and Stephen Machin will give their views on the role skills should pay in the formulation and implementation of a strategy to secure long-term growth for the UK, reflecting on lessons from international experience and state of the art academic literature.
About the speakers: Eric Hanushek is the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. He has been a leader in the development of economic analysis of educational issues, and his work on efficiency, resource usage, and economic outcomes of schools has frequently entered into the design of both US and international educational policy.
Steve Machin is Professor of Economics at University College London, Research Director at the Centre for Economic Performance, a member of the Low Pay Commission and Director of the Centre for the Economics of Education.
Places are strictly limited, so if you would like to attend please RSVP to LSEGrowth@lse.ac.uk by Monday 12 March.
More information at the CEP Events page.
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Centre for Economic Performance 21st Birthday Lecture: "Mental Health: The New Frontier for the Welfare State"
Date: Tuesday 6 March 2012
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Time: 6.30pm
Speaker: Professor Lord Richard Layard, Director of Wellbeing Programme, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE
Overview: CEP Founder Richard Layard will close the 21st Birthday Lecture Series with a discussion focusing on mental health. Mental illness is the greatest hidden problem in our society. Tackling it would do more than anything else to raise our national wellbeing. Mental health is crucial for our quality of life and it also has huge effects on our ability to learn, to work and to be a good parent. There are many excellent ways of promoting mental health and treating mental illness, but they are not properly available in any country at present.
About the speaker: Richard Layard is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, where he was, until 2003, the founder-director of the Centre for Economic Performance. He now heads the Centre's Programme on Well-Being. Since 2000 he has been a member of the House of Lords.
This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entrance is on a first-come-first-serve basis. More information on the LSE events pages.
Download the poster for the lecture.
Info on future CEP events can be found on the CEP Events page.
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February 2012
Centre for Economic Performance 21st Birthday Lecture: "Comparing Real Wages: The McWage Index"
Date: Tuesday 28 February 2012
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Time: 6.30pm
Speaker: Professor Orley Ashenfleter (Princeton University)
Overview: Real wages measure worker welfare and the cost of labour. After providing some historical background and the basis for their interpretation, Professor Ashenfleter reports the results of a decade long study of wage rates at McDonald's restaurants in over 60 countries.
About the speaker: Orley Ashenfelter is Joseph Douglas Green 1895 Professor of Economics and Director of the Industrial Relations section at Princeton University. He is also the editor of the Law and Economics Review, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science, and is a corresponding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 2003 he won the IZA Labor Economics Prize, and in 2002 received a doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Brussels.
This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entrance is on a first-come-first-serve basis. More information on the LSE Events pages.
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Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures: "Climate Change and the New Industrial Revolution"
Dates: Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22, Thursday 23 February 2012
Venue: Old Theatre, Ground Floor, Old Building
Time: 6.30pm
Speaker: Professor Lord Nicholas Stern (LSE)
Chair: Professor Judith Rees (LSE)
Five years on from the Stern Review there have been important changes in the world which are likely to have a profound impact on our response to the two defining challenges of the century, overcoming poverty and managing climate change. Lord Stern will discuss how we can bring economics and political economy to the analysis of our response to these challenges in the context of a special but difficult decade in the global economy.
Lecture 1 - Tuesday 21 February 2012
What we risk and how we should cast the economics and ethics
Lecture 2 - Wednesday 22 February 2012
How we can respond and prosper
Lecture 3 - Thursday 23 February 2012
How we can get there: building national and international action
About the speaker: Lord Stern is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics, heading the India Observatory within the LSE's Asia Research Centre, and Chairman of LSE's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. From 2005-2007 he was adviser to the UK Government on the Economics of Climate Change and Development, and Head of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change.
For further information, please refer to the LSE Events pages.
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January 2012
Professor Tim Besley appointed as LSE School Professor
Professor Tim Besley (pictured) and Professor David Soskice have been announced as the first LSE School Professors.
Professor Tim Besley, who started his role on 1 January, is School Professor of Economics and Political Science, and Professor David Soskice, who will join LSE in September from the University of Oxford, will be School Professor linked to Department of Government.
The School Professors Scheme provides the capacity to attract or retain scholars of outstanding international distinction in their field. Candidates are scholars of world stature in the relevant subject, have a substantial body of publications, have demonstrated a high level of originality in scholarship, and have shown an ability to forge significant links with other disciplines. They have direct responsibility to the Director for initiating and developing interdisciplinary research, teaching and other appropriate academic activities in order to strengthen the intellectual life of the School community as a whole.
Professor Danny Quah has also been appointed as Kuwait Professor of Economics and Political Science, and will be leading the Kuwait Programme at LSE.
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New Director for STICERD
Professor Oriana Bandiera of the Department of Economics takes up her new position as Director of STICERD this term.
Oriana, who works in applied microeconomics, especially (but not exclusively) in development and organization economics, joined the Economics Department as a Lecturer in 1999, and has been here ever since. During that time, she has held visiting positions at the universities of Chicago, New York, Yale and Stockholm. Apart from being a Co-Director of the Economic Organization and Public Policy programme at STICERD, she is Co-Director of the State Capabilities Research Programme at the International Growth Centre. She is also a fellow of several research networks and serves on the board of editors of the Journal of Economic Literature, the Journal of Development Economics, Economica and the Economic Journal.
As Director of STICERD, one of her main responsibilities will be to allocate funds to promote research in economics and related disciplines across the school. STICERD funds finance numerous research activities, such as conferences, academic visits, special lectures, research grants and students' grants; she will report to the STICERD steering committee, whose members represent the different STICERD constituencies.
When asked about the issues she feels will be important to STICERD and the Department of Economics over the next few years, she highlighted the need to attract and retain the very best staff. "(We) are at the top of economics research in Europe and among the best worldwide. To stay at the top it is key to keep all research fields staffed both at the senior and junior level, and to provide the best conditions for our researchers to develop their ideas into projects."
"It is a great honour to be asked to head this amazing research community, and to follow on the footsteps of the previous directors who have created an incredibly vibrant research environment here in STICERD", she added.
Oriana replaces Professor Tim Besley, who served as Director of STICERD from 2000-2011. Professor Besley added: 'I am delighted that Professor Bandiera is taking on this task. STICERD is an important resource for LSE and one of its oldest research centres; it is good to know that it will be in such capable hands'.
STICERD's previous directors were Professor Michio Morishima, Professor Sir Tony Atkinson, Professor Lord Nicholas Stern and Professor Howard Glennerster.
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December 2011
"Big questions for young minds" - LSE launches new economics lecture for young people online
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A new online lecture which tackles big questions about the economy for a younger audience has been launched by LSE.
In "The LSE Big Questions lecture: East beats West? Is the East taking over the world?", Professor Danny Quah addresses the issue of the rising economic power of China and other Asian countries and asks whether we should be fearful of this. Using audience-participation games, demonstrations, films and interviews, Danny explains what the economy is, why it matters, how global trade is changing the world and how we ill need to adapt to this.
For more information, please go to the LSE News and Events pages.
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Mark Blaug
Mark Blaug who taught in the department in the 1960s died on November 18th.
He was probably best known for his book on the history of economic thought, 'Economic Theory in Retrospect'. He had a fine sense of the history of our subject that is probably missing from most of us today.
There will be a memorial gathering of Mark's friends and colleagues at the Reading Room at the British Academy at 6pm on January 19th.
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Economic Research Council: "Clash of the Titans: Economic Predictions for 2012"
Date: Tuesday 6 December 2011
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: Royal Institution
Chair: former Chancellor of the Exchequer and President of the ERC Lord Lamont Speakers: Professors John Muelbauer (Oxford), M Hashem Pesaran (Cambridge) and Danny Quah (LSE)
The Economic Research Council presents the first annual: Clash of Titans: Economic Predictions for 2012 (Oxford vs. Cambridge vs. LSE), chaired by former Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lamont, Professors John Muelbauer (Oxford), M Hashem Pesaran (Cambridge) and Danny Quah (LSE) will be representing the top three economics departments in the country, giving their thoughts on past and present aspects of the UK and the global economy, and making their predictions for what to expect in 2012.
For more information please go to the Economic Research Council page.
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November 2011
Department of Economics Public Lecture:
"Lionel Robbins book launch"
Date: Wednesday 30 November 2011 Time: 6.30pm Venue: Old Theatre, Main Building
Speaker: Professor Susan Howson
To celebrate the launch of her outstanding biography of Lionel Robbins, the Department of Economics is delighted to present a public lecture by Professor Susan Howson of the University of Toronto. This lecture will examine Lionel Robbins' public activities and demonstrate why he was such an important figure in the intellectual and cultural life in Britain in the twentieth century.
For more information please go to the LSE Public Events pages. Alternatively, you can download the leaflet for the lecture.
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Book Launch Public Discussion: "Pillars of Prosperity: the political economics of development clusters"
Date: Monday 7 November 2011
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speakers: Professor Timothy Besley, Kuwait Professor of Economic and Political Science, Director of STICERD and Director of the Institute of Public Affairs at LSE, and Professor Torsten Persson, Torsten and Ragnar Soderberg Chair in Economic Sciences at IIES, Stockholm University, and a centennial professor at LSE Respondents: Professor Francesco Caselli, Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at LSE, and Professor Robert Wade, Professor of Political Economy and Development in the Department of International Development at LSE.
For more information please go to the LSE Public Events pages.
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News Archive
Click on the News Archive to read the news of previous years.
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