Conference Programme

• Monday 10th December 2007
• Tuesday 11th December 2007

Monday 10th December 2007

8:30-9:00 Registration

9:00-9:30 Opening Address:

9:30-11:00 The Definition and Boundaries of Economics I

Chair: Richard Jackman (LSE)

Resource Allocation through Social Interaction
Larry Blume (Cornell)
Abstract

Scarcity, private property rights and social norms
Vivienne Brown (Open University).
Abstract | Paper

Robbins, Time, Value and Sustainability
C Pitelis and J Runde (Cambridge)
Abstract | Paper

Demarcation of Economics in Robbins's Essay
Ignacio Falgueras-Sorauren (University of Malaga)
Abstract | Paper

11:00-11:30 Coffee Break

11:30-13:00 Ethics and Economics

Chair: Mary Morgan (LSE)

Economics and Ethics: Juxtaposition, Illicit Relationship, or Fruitful Partnership
Anthony B Atkinson (Nuffield, Oxford)
Abstract | Presentation

Efficiency or a 'Fair' Game? John Rawls Contra Lionel Robbins
David Levy (George Mason University) and Sandra Peart (University of Richmond)
Abstract | Paper

Positive Ethics and the Science of Economics: Robbins's enduring fallacies.
Amos Witztum (London Metropolitan University)
Abstract | Presentation

Robbins and the transformation of Welfare Economics
Roger Backhouse (University of Birmingham)
Abstract | Paper

13:00-14:00 Lunch

14:30-16:00 Methodology I

Chair: Tony Lawson (Cambridge)

Can Economics be founded on 'indisputable facts of experience'?
Robert Sugden (University of East Anglia)
Abstract | Presentation

Lionel Robbins and Broad Positivism: All the Philosophy an Economist Needs.
Don Ross (University of Cape Town and Alabama).
Paper | Presentation

Effective Tension in Robbin’s Economic Methodology.
D. Wade Hands (University of Puget Sound)
Paper | Presentation

Basic Instinct: Robbins's Essay and the "Physical Groundwork of Economics".
Harro Maas (University of Amsterdam).
Abstract | Paper | Presentation

16:00-16:30 Coffee Break

16:30- 18:00 Definition and Boundaries of Economics II

Chair: Roger Backhouse (Birmingham)

Some Legacies of Robbins's Nature and Significance of Economic Science
Richard Lipsey (Simon Fraser University)
Abstract | Presentation

Defining Economics: Robbins' Essay in Theory and Practice
Steven Medema (University of Colorado) and Roger Backhouse (University of Birmingham)
Paper

What was "it" that Robbins was Defining?
David Colander (Middlebury College)
Abstract | Paper | Presentation

19:30 Dinner at Sofra

Tuesday 11th December 2007

9:00-10:30 Methodology II

Chair: Uskali Maki (University of Helsinki)

Lionel Robbins: Prophet or Ogre?
Ken Binmore (University College, London)
Abstract | Paper

The Status and relevance of Robbin's Essay after seventy-five years.
Andrew Brown and David Spencer (Leeds University)
Abstract | Presentation

Lionel Robbins: A Methodological Reappraisal.
Rodrigo Zeidan and Marcelo Resende (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)
Paper | Presentation

Robbins on the Stationary State: An early attempt to distinguish idealisation from abstraction.
Menno Rol (University of Groningen).
Abstract | Paper | Presentation

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break.

11:00-12:30 Policy Implications and the role of Evidence

Chair: Max Steuer (LSE)

The Continuing Muddles of Monetary Theory: A Steadfast Refusal to Face Facts.
Charles Goodhart (LSE)
Abstract | Paper | Presentation

Lionel Robbins, Monetary Reform and 'Keynesian Economics'
Geoff Tily (UK Government)
Abstract | Paper | Presentation

A Misunderstood Robbins? The role of the economist and policy action.
Fabio Masini (University of Rome)
Abstract | Paper

Re-Reading Robbins's Essay 18 years after 1989: How the Great Transition Changed Economics.
Brigitte Granville (Queen Mary College) and Judith Shapiro (LSE)
Abstract | Presentation

12:30 -14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:10 Methodology III

Chair: Steven Medema (Colorado)

On the Nature and Significance of Economics Redux
Jose Cardoso (University of Lisbon) and Nuno Palma (Northwestern).
Abstract | Paper

Thought Experiments, Contingent Events and Descriptive Accuracy: Agreeing and Disagreeing with the Methodology of Lionel Robbins .
Max Steuer (LSE)
Paper

Robbins's Nature and Significance and the M²T seminar.
Jim Thomas (LSE)
Paper | Presentation

15:10-15:30 Coffee Break

15:30-17:00 Definitions and Boundaries III

Chair: David Colander (Middlebury College)

The Making of Robbins's Essay
Susan Howson (University of Toronto)
Paper

Value-Free Economics in Management and Engineering Education
Kevin Christ (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Indiana)
Abstract | Paper | | Presentation

Robbins Revisited: The Indian Experience.
Geeta Nair (HR College, Mumbai)
Abstract | Paper | Presentation

Attractive Polarities, Narrow Boundaries
Reza Dibadj
Abstract | Paper

17:00-19:00 Reception