Summer 2015 | Public lectures and events | Audio and pdf

Contributor(s): Maria Luís Albuquerque | Following a difficult adjustment period, the Portuguese economy is now recovering and standing on more solid ground – sounder public finances, secured financial stability and growing competitiveness. Notwithstanding, given the magnitude of the economic imbalances accumulated before the crisis, the significant correction achieved in recent years was not yet sufficient to substantially reduce indebtedness and unemployment. While these remain as central

Contributor(s): Professor Sir Tony Atkinson, Tom Clark, Professor Baroness Lister | Introducing his new book, Inequality: what can be done?, Professor Atkinson will argue we can do much more about inequality than skeptics imagine. Tony Atkinson is a Centennial Professor at LSE and a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. Tom Clark (@guardian_clark) writes for The Guardian and is the author of Hard Times: the divisive toll of the economic slump. Ruth Lister is Baroness Lister of Burtersett and Emeritus

Contributor(s): Andrew Palmer | Finance distorts behaviour and destroys economies, but it also solves society's biggest problems. A new wave of financial innovation is tackling everything from the threat of pandemics to the retirement crisis, from credit-starved borrowers to recidivism in prisons. Andrew Palmer (@palmerandrew) has worked at the Economist since 2007; as the banking correspondent from 2007-2009, the finance editor from 2009­-2013 and currently as head of data journalism. He has a

Contributor(s): Oystein Olsen, Dr Sushil Wadhwani | The past decade shows how monetary policy and financial stability are interlinked. In recent years, Norges Bank has been one of few central banks where the risk of a build-up of financial imbalances has played an explicit role in monetary policy. Norges Bank was also one of the first to establish an analytical framework for the Basel III macroprudential countercyclical capital buffer. The Governor, Øystein Olsen, will discuss both analytical and

Contributor(s): Dr Fabienne Peter, Professor Catherine Rowett, Dr Stephen de Wijze | Is politics the instrument of moral ideals and values? Is it something like ‘applied morality’? In recent years there has been a revival of approaches which give greater autonomy to distinctively political thought, which can be called ‘political realism’, in contrast to ‘political moralism’. The panel discussion will explore this contrast, and ask whether political legitimacy is ultimately a question of one’s moral

Contributor(s): Matthew Crawford | Matthew Crawford will be in conversation with Professor Richard Sennett about his new book, The World Beyond Your Head: How to Flourish in an Age of Distraction, in which he investigates the challenge of mastering one's own mind. With ever-increasing demands on our attention, how do we focus on what's really important in our lives? Matthew Crawford is a philosopher and mechanic. He has a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Chicago and served as a

Contributor(s): Jack Blumenau, Simon Hix, Tony Travers, Sue Cameron | The third of the general election debates, involving five opposition party leaders: Natalie Bennett (Greens), Nigel Farage (UKIP), Ed Miliband (Labour), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) and Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru) will be screened live at the LSE (from 8-9.30pm) and will be followed by a panel discussion involving LSE academics and the audience (from 9.30-10.30pm). LSE's Jack Blumenau, Simon Hix, Tony Travers and columnist and presenter