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About the Huth Initiative

The Huth Initiative for a New Political Economy (HINPE) is a major multi-year programme combining rigorous research with policy engagement to turn ideas into practice.

Enabled by a transformative £10 million gift from LSE alumnus Johannes Huth, the Initiative will develop practical frameworks for a fairer, more cohesive economy and lay the foundations for a permanent institute.

In our video, Tim Besley explains why LSE is launching the Huth Initiative for a New Political Economy and why new approaches are needed to shape future economic thinking.

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Our mission

For more than half a century, economic policy across much of the world has been shaped by a set of values and policies that came to be known as "neoliberalism".

It delivered real gains, but it has struggled with some of the defining challenges of our era: deepening inequality, insecure work, the concentration of economic power, the climate and ecological crisis, and the disruptive promise of new technologies such as artificial intelligence. As that era draws to a close, it is not yet clear what will replace it.

Our mission is to develop a positive and practical alternative for the twenty-first-century: one that generates broadly shared prosperity, strengthens democratic life, and treats meaning, community and respect as seriously as material wealth. We pursue this by bringing together outstanding researchers from economics, politics, philosophy, law and beyond, and by connecting their work directly with the policymakers, businesses and citizens who can put new ideas into practice.

Description: Audience at LSE Environment Week 2024. Source: LSE Digital Assets (Aetopia)https://digitalassets.lse.ac.uk/c/asset/19170 Credit: LSE/Robin Boot

While many of the building blocks for a new economic paradigm already exist, they remain fragmented across disciplines. The Huth Initiative will support cutting-edge research, draw these insights together into a coherent whole, and ensure they shape real-world policy.


Dr Daniel Chandler,
Executive Director of the Huth Initiative for a New Political Economy

A thriving economy is shaped not only by policies and markets but by the communities it nurtures and the political processes that sustain them.


Professor Sir Tim Besley,
Director of the Huth Initiative for a New Political Economy
Description: LSE students working together in the LSE Library. Source: LSE Digital Assets (Aetopia) https://digitalassets.lse.ac.uk/c/asset/17553 Credit: LSE/Matt Stuart

What we aspire to do

Accelerating vital research

We support ambitious, multi-year research programmes that bring scholars together across disciplines to work on shared questions.

By backing both established faculty and the next generation of researchers, and by drawing in outstanding visiting scholars from around the world, we aim to build a community capable of sustained, original inquiry into the defining economic challenges of our time.

Creating a thriving intellectual community

Big ideas need a place to flourish.

We are building a vibrant community that encourages people to ask bold questions, collaborate across boundaries and pursue work that shapes both academic and public debate. Through seminars, workshops, lectures and long-term investment in early-career scholars, we aim to make LSE a magnet for the best thinkers in political economy.

Shaping public debate and influencing policy

Better ideas matter only if they reach the people who can act on them.

Our Policy Hub connects our research directly with policymakers, business leaders and journalists, translating new thinking into practical proposals, generating original policy ideas, and building the relationships that turn research into real-world impact. Through it, we aim to set the terms of debate about the future of our economies.

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