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Public Events

Hayek Workshop on Institutions and Political Economy in Historical Perspective

Date, time, and venue: Thursday 20 and Friday 21 June 2024, Vera Anstey Room, MG, Old Buidling, LSE

On June 20-21, the LSE will host a workshop on the Lessons of Classical Liberalism for the Modern World. This event is sponsored by the LSE's Department of Social Policy, the LSE Hayek Programme, the Classical Liberal Institute at New York University Law School, the Hayek Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and the Institute for Humane Studies.p>

The conference programme is available here.

For any queries email Adam Oliver.


Hayek Workshop on Institutions and Political Economy in Historical Perspective

Date, time, and venue: Wednesday 29 to Thursday 30 May 2024, MAR 1.10, 1st floor, The Marshall Building, LSE

Hosted by the Hayek Programme in Economics and Liberal Political Economy

Organisers: Tim Besley, Carmine Guerriero, Mohamed Saleh and Melanie Xue

The role of political institutions in shaping economic activity is central to recent scholarship in economics. However, these institutions are historically shaped, and examining them from a historical perspective is crucial for a deeper understanding of economic development. This workshop convenes leading scholars who focus on the broad spectrum of institutions in historical contexts, as well as those examining the interplay between institutions and culture in influencing economic outcomes.

No ticket or pre-registration is required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis.

The conference programme is available here.

For any queries email Lubala Chibwe.


Law and Finance at 25

Date, time, and venue: Monday 11 March 2024 at 6:30-8:00pm, Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House, LSE

Hosted by the Hayek Programme in Economics and Liberal Political Economy

Speaker: Professor Andrei Shleifer

Chair: Professor Niamh Moloney, LSE Law School

Research starting about 25 years ago uncovered a set of empirical regularities relating commercial laws and regulations across countries to their legal traditions. Subsequent work explored possible interpretations of the evidence, including Hayek's evolutionary theory of common law.

Professor Andrei Shleifer will discuss the reforms in laws and regulations around the world in the past 25 years and their lessons for the interpretation of the evidence.

No ticket or pre-registration is required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis.

For any queries email Irina Zaraisky.

View the video of the event on YouTube.


Empowering citizens with behavioural science

Date, time, and venue: Tuesday 30 January 2024 at 6:30-8:00pm, Auditorium, Centre Building, LSE

Hosted by the Hayek Programme in Economics and Liberal Political Economy and the Department of Social Policy

Speaker: Professor Ralph Hertwig

Chair: Dr Barbara Fasolo, LSE Department of Management

Behavioural public policy has gained significant attention recently due to two key factors: political debates over government size and role, and the globally influential approach of nudging.

Nudging promises that minor adjustments in choice architecture can influence decisions without altering incentives. However, nudging has also been criticized, including objections to its soft paternalism and its neglect of agency, autonomy, and the longevity of behaviour change. In response to such criticisms - and the proliferation of highly engineered and manipulative, commercial choice architectures - other behavioural policy approaches have been proposed, focusing on empowering citizens to make well-informed decisions. Those approaches are based on a view of human cognitive and motivational capacities that goes beyond the deficit model underlying nudge. In the face of systemic problems such as climate change, pandemics, threats to liberal democracies, and rapid cycles of technological innovations, evidence-informed investments in a competent, informed, and active citizenry seem an essential-though not-sufficient policy approach. This talk will outline recent developments in conceptual and empirical research that aims to empower citizens by boosting their competences.

The event is free and open to all. The event is hybrid with an in-person and online audience. Find out more here.

For the in-person event: No ticket or pre-registration is required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis.

For the online event: Register for this event here.

View the video of the event on YouTube.

For any queries email events@lse.ac.uk.