Public events

Knowledge as a Source of the Great Divergence

Date and time: Thursday 17 June 2021 at 6.30-7.30pm

Speaker: Professor Joel Mokyr, Northwestern University and University of Tel Aviv

Chair: Professor Mary Morgan, Department of History of Economics, LSE

Joel Mokyr will discuss the Great Divergence, the rapid economic and technological growth between c. 1500 and 1950, that gave the West the opportunity to dominate (and often oppress and exploit) the rest of the world. The lecture will answer a simple but haunting question: how were they able to do that?

The event is free and open to all but pre-registration is required. Find out more here.

Hayekian Behavioural Economics

Date and time: Monday 18 January 2021 at 4:00pm

Speaker: Professor Cass R Sunstein, Harvard Law School

Chair: Professor Tim Besley, STICERD and Department of Economics, LSE

Friedrich Hayek argued for freedom of choice based on outsiders knowing much less than choosers so that interferences with personal freedom will make choosers worse off. This lecture will explore the challenge to that argument that comes from behavioural economics and discusses an ongoing program of research which has created a form of Hayekian behavioural economics.

The event is free and open to all. Find out more here.

View the video of the event on YouTube.

Civil Liberties in Times of Crisis

Date and time: Friday, 18 September at 16:45

Speaker: Professor Stefanie Stantcheva, Department of Economics, Harvard University

Chair: Professor Tim Besley, STICERD and Department of Economics, LSE

Professor Stantcheva will discuss her recent work exploring how far citizens are willing trade off civil liberties during COVID-19, and whether citizens are induced to hold onto their rights and freedoms even during times of crisis because of worries about the long-term erosion of civil liberties.

The event is free and open to all. Please sign up here.

View the video of the event on YouTube.