Power Shift: West to East [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Michael Cox, Professor Arne Westad | The world is tilting away from the West to the East, from the United States to China, from the Transatlantic to the Pacific. Or is it? LSE experts with very different answers to these questions will battle it out in an open forum. Professor Michael Cox is Co- Director of LSE IDEAS and Professor of International Relations at LSE. Professor Westad is a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and an expert on
The Global Challenge: No facts [Audio]
Speaker(s): Hernando de Soto | The Global Policy dialogues are a unique series of exchanges bringing together today's most preeminent scholars and practitioners to discuss pressing questions of policy, with the aim of advancing our understanding of the underlying issues and offering innovative solutions to global challenges. Hernando de Soto is currently President of the ILD —headquartered in Lima, Peru— considered by The Economist as one of the two most important think tanks in the world.
The Quest for Meaning [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Tariq Ramadan | In this public lecture Tariq Ramadan, philosopher and Islamic scholar will talk about his new book 'The Quest for Meaning' in which he invites the reader to join him on a journey to the deep ocean of religious, secular, and indigenous spiritual traditions to explore the most pressing contemporary issues. Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University (Oriental Institute, St Antony's College).
Jilted Generation: How Britain Bankrupted Its Youth [Audio]
Speaker(s): Ed Howker, Shiv Malik | Why can so few young people afford to buy a house? Why do even top graduates struggle to find jobs? Why does politics – from voting to protesting – seem so pointless? Why is Britain not just 'broken' but also broke? Twenty-something journalists Ed Howker and Shiv Malik tell the sad, maddening story of how their generation's future is being strangled by the culture of short-termism.
Financial Crisis and Economic Recession [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Jesús Huerta de Soto | The current financial and economic situation of the world should be analysed from the point of view of the Austrian Business Cycle Theory as developed by Mises and Hayek. Professor Huerta De Soto will present innovative solutions to the banking crisis and credit crunch working within the tradition of the Austrian School masters, Mises and Hayek. He will also unveil his proposal for similar legislative change that the "Peel Act" or Bank Charter Act of
Where Good Ideas Come From [Audio]
Speaker(s): Steven Johnson | Steven Johnson has spent twenty years immersed in creative industries, was active at the dawn of the internet and has a unique perspective that draws on his fluency in fields ranging from neurobiology to new media. In his new book, he identifies the key principles to the genesis of great ideas, from the cultivation of hunches to the importance of connectivity and how best to make use of new technologies. By recognising where and how patterns of creativity occur – w
Sustainability Living in Practice [Audio]
Speaker(s): Satish Kumar | When he was nine Satish joined the wandering brotherhood of Jain monks. At 18, he became a campaigner for land reform, working to turn Gandhi's vision of renewed India and a peaceful world into reality. Satish Kumar is a visiting fellow at Schumacher College, a residential centre for study of ecological and spiritual values. He founded the Small School, with ecological and spiritual values in its curriculum.
Lagos: Confronting Change in a Global Megacity [Audio]
Speaker(s): Babatunde Fashola | Lagos is one the fastest growing cities in Africa, and the seventh fastest growing city in the world. Governor Babatunde Fashola discusses how his administration is managing rapid urbanization and growth of this 17.5 million city, the engine of Nigeria's economy. Central to his strategy is the view that cities must pursue a bottom-up approach to solve the environmental and social challenges of the contemporary city. Babatunde Fashola is the youngest Governor of La
What has the financial crisis taught Europe? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dr Simeon Djankov | The recent financial crisis has uncovered several weaknesses in Europe's regulatory system. Belatedly, the European Commission has tried to fix these weaknesses with extensive new regulation, including the creation of several new institutions. Simeon Djankov Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Bulgaria will in this lecture offer an analysis of the most recent developments as well as a perspective on how the financial sector in Europe, and its regulati
Are the New Conservatives conservative? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Daniel Finkelstein, Professor Roger Scruton | The newly reinvigorated Tories describe themselves as liberal, progressive, and even radical. But these ideas have long been an anathema to conservative thinkers. Are the new Conservatives really conservative? Daniel Finkelstein is executive editor and chief leader writer at The Times and is an LSE alumnus. Roger Scruton is resident researcher at the American Enterprise Institute and visiting professor in philosophy, Oxford University.
The Sixth Crisis: Iran, Israel, America, and the Rumors of War [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dr Dana H. Allin | Dr. Allin will speak on the tangle of Middle East crises: Iran's growing nuclear challenge, the impasse on Israel-Palestine, and the consequences of both for President Obama's efforts to recast America's relations with the world's Muslims. This event marks the publication of Dr Allin's latest book The Sixth Crisis: Iran, Israel, America, and the Rumors of War. Dana H. Allin is Editor, Survival, and Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy and Transatlantic Affairs at th
Unbelonging [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Ranjana Khanna | More often than not, a sense of belonging to a nation or a community has been deemed or imagined positive. This talk explores how many contemporary artists use and cite different forms of technology as a way of proposing a state of unbelonging. Ranjana Khanna is a Professor of English, Literature, & Women's Studies and Margaret Taylor Smith Director of Women's Studies at Duke University.
Valuing the Humanities [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor James Ladyman, Professor Martha Nussbaum, Lord Rees of Ludlow, Richard Smith | James Ladyman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Bristol and co-editor of the British Journal of the Philosophy of Science. Martha Nussbaum is Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago. Lord Rees of Ludlow is President of the Royal Society, Astronomer Royal and Master of Trinity College Cambridge. Richard Smith is a Former editor of t
European Questions – Turkish Angles: Europe's secularity [Audio]
Speaker(s): John Madeley, Professor Philippe Marliere, Professor Hakan Yilmaz | This series of events explores how our understanding of Europe's identity can be enhanced and developed in a new way by taking in a distinctively Turkish perspective. John Madeley is a senior lecturer at LSE's Government Department. Philippe Marliere is professor in French and European politics at UCL. Hakan Yilmaz is professor of political science at Bogaziçi University, Istanbul.
African Urbanism [Audio]
Speaker(s): Edgar Pieterse | Africa is the fastest urbanising region in the world, and has become the focus of increasing attention from architects and planners, academics, development agencies and urban think-tanks. Professor Edgar Pieterse argues for a new way of thinking about African cities to accompany this surge of interest and to replace traditional views of African cities as sites of absence and neglect. Rapid urbanisation along with impressive economic growth rates for much of the Conti
The Have and Have Nots [Audio]
Speaker(s): Branko Milanovic | Inequality is a surprisingly slippery issue, involving not just straightforward comparisons of individuals, but also comparisons of price and consumption differences around the world – and over time. In this lecture Branko Milanovic, the lead economist at the World Bank's research division, will approach the issue in a new and innovative way, focusing on inequality in income and wealth in different time periods and contexts: from inequality in Roman times (and ho
Absolute beginners: behavioural economics and human happiness [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Paul Dolan | In Absolute Beginners by The Jam, Paul Weller sang "I need the strength to go and get what I want". The problem is that we often want things that do not improve our wellbeing. Or at least that is what we think the evidence is telling us. This lecture explores the sources of our mistakes and the robustness of the evidence. It considers the implications for public policy of us being absolute beginners about the sources of our wellbeing. Paul Dolan is a Professor
Climate Forecasting with Chaos, or Chaos in Climate Forecasting? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dr Roman Frigg | Predicting how climate change will affect us is of paramount importance, yet it is beset with both practical and conceptual problems. This lecture explores the impact that chaos has on what we can reasonably assert on the basis of climate models. Roman Frigg is deputy director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Sciences, LSE.
The Foreign Policy of Modern Russia: The Prospects for Russian British Relations [Audio]
Speaker(s): Sergey Lavrov | Sergey Lavrov is Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Prior to this he served from 1994-2004 as Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the United Nations. He graduated from the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Moscow State Institute of International Relations, beginning his diplomatic career at the Soviet Embassy in Sri Lanka. This event is the opening lecture in Russian Business Week organised by the LSESU Russian Business Society wh
Literary Festival 2011 - Science Fiction and International Orders [Audio]
Speaker(s): Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Paul McAuley, Ken McLeod | The study of popular culture has always been a feature of the social sciences as well as of the humanities – indeed, the social sciences have often been in advance of the humanities in this area, more willing to recognise the importance of genres that are frowned upon by the arts establishment. This event will bring together a number of writers of imaginative fiction and academics who have written in this field. Jon Courtney Grimwo
