Skip to main content
20Jan

Dangerous guesswork in economic policy

Hosted by the Department of Economics
In-person and online public event (Auditorium, Centre Building)
Monday 20 January 2025 6.30pm - 7.30pm

Join us to hear Max Steuer talk about his new book, Dangerous Guesswork In Economic Policy.

The book is about the need for, and the benefits of, drawing on specialist skills in formulating economic policy. Some issues can be addressed through common sense and first-hand experience. Few matters involving use of resources in the NHS, defence policy, education, housing and a host of other issues, such as high-speed rail, are of that kind. Recognising the need is the first step. With the best will in the world, drawing on knowledge is not easy. Dangerous Guesswork provides a sophisticated overview of the working of the discipline.

Meet our speaker and chair

Max Steuer (@MaxSteuer) is a reader emeritus in the Department of Economics at LSE. He was Co-Director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, and Programme Associate in the Cities Programme at LSE. He is still a part-time lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method and in July 2023 he was made an Honorary Fellow of LSE.

David Webb, Professor of Finance in the Department of Finance at LSE has received the inaugral Denis Gromb Award for Outstanding Citizenship in Financial Economics at the FIRS conference in Berlin. The award is designed to recognise those who strive to make the profession better through their mentorship, leadership, dedication, and academic citizenship.

More about this event

Join us on campus or watch the event online at LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. A video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

The Department of Economics (@LSEEcon) is one of the biggest and best in the world, with expertise across the full spectrum of mainstream economics. The Department’s research has been utilised in efforts to tackle major global challenges such as climate change; economic instability; economic development and growth; and national and global productivity and inequality, often catalysing profound shifts in policy debate and formulation.

The hashtag for this event is #LSEEvents

Join our mailing list

Sign up to receive email updates from LSE Events including the latest news and event announcements.

Podcast & video

A podcast of this event is available to download from Dangerous guesswork in economic policy.

A video of this event is available to watch at Dangerous guesswork in economic policy.

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

Many speakers at LSE events also write for

LSE Blogs

, which present research and critical commentary accessibly for a public audience. Follow

British Politics and Policy

, the

Business Review

, the

Impact Blog

,

European Politics and Policy

and the

LSE Review of Books

to learn more about the debates our events series present.

Automated live captions are available at this live event. Please note that this feature uses Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology, or machine generated transcription and is not 100% accurate.

Photographs taken on behalf of LSE are often used on our social media accounts, website and publications. At events, photographs could include broad shots of the audience and lecture theatre, of speakers during the talk, and of audience members as they participate in the Q&A.

If you are photographed participating in an event Q&A but would not like your photograph to be stored for future use, please contact events@lse.ac.uk.

We aim to make all LSE events available as a podcast subject to receiving permission from the speaker/s to do this, and subject to no technical problems with the recording of the event. Podcasts are normally available 1 week after the event.

Podcasts and videos

of past events can be found online.

Follow LSE public events on X for the latest updates on all our events and ticket releases.

Livestreams and archive videos of past lectures are shared on our YouTube channel while event podcasts can be found on the LSE Player.

Event updates and other information about what’s happening at LSE can be found on our Facebook page and for live photos from events and around campus, follow us on Instagram.

Attending our events in-person or online? Join the conversation using #LSEEvents.

If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, as well as on accessibility and special requirements, please refer to

LSE Events FAQ

. LSE aims to ensure that people have equal access to these public events, but please contact the events organiser as far as possible in advance if you have any access requirements so that arrangements, where possible, can be made. If the event is ticketed, please ensure you get in touch in advance of the ticket release date.

Access Guides to all our venues can be viewed online

.

LSE has now introduced wireless for guests and visitors in association with 'The Cloud', also in use at many other locations across the UK. If you are on campus visiting for the day or attending a conference or event, you can connect your device to wireless. See more information and create an account at Join the Cloud.


Visitors from other participating institutions are encouraged to use

eduroam

. If you are having trouble connecting to eduroam, please contact your home institution for assistance.


The Cloud is only intended for guest and visitor access to wifi. Existing LSE staff and students are encouraged to use

eduroam

instead.

LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of The London School of Economics and Political Science.

From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend that if you plan to attend this event you check back on this listing on the day of the event.

LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.