The Reith Lectures

Serving Judge Lord McCluskey gives his second Reith lecture from the series entitled 'Law, Justice and Democracy'. In this lecture entitled 'The Clanking of Medieval Chains', Lord McCluskey examines how judges think. He asks how with precisely the same starting materials in terms of fact and legal tradition, judges can come to such diametrically opposite conclusions.

Serving Judge Lord McCluskey gives his first Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Law, Justice and Democracy'. In his lecture entitled 'The Chill and Distant Heights', Lord McCluskey discusses whether it is right for judges to have sole responsibility for sentencing criminals. He argues that if judges were relieved of the responsibility for so-called sentencing policy, it could help them to play the role of administering a system of law.

David Henderson, head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the sixth and final lecture in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'.In this lecture entitled 'Markets, States and Economics', David Henderson puts forward the uses of economics and concludes his comparison between orthodox economic and Do-It-Yourself Economics. Setting these arguments in a wider context Henderson considers the political as well as cultural effects these two systems have on society.

David Henderson, head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the fifth lecture in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'.In this lecture entitled 'DIYE plus the Lobbies: Counting the Cost', David Henderson puts forward two questions. The first: why do some professional economic ideas have so little influence? And secondly he questions: how much does this lack of influence matter? To answer these questions he evaluates the power of Do-It-Yourself Economics on policy makers and the current economic strategies.He argues that the prosperity of countries depends on how far their governments are prepared to allow choices to be influenced by market forces. He highlights investment choices and international market opportunities in particular.

David Henderson, head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the fourth lecture in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'.In this lecture entitled 'Orthodox Economists Versus the People', David Henderson further explores the contrasts between Do-It-Yourself Economics and Orthodox Economics. All over the world, trade intervention has been used, and continues to be used, as a means of promoting specific developments, and asserting national identity. To explore this issue Henderson evaluates the differences between international economic relations and trade policies. He questions the notions of where national interests lie in international trade.

David Henderson, head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the third lecture in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'.In this lecture entitled 'Needs, Centralism & Autarchy', David Henderson highlights the contrast between Do-It-Yourself Economics (DIYE) and Orthodox Economics. He reflects on how economic policies might affect security, trade, markets and stocks. Using the example of British Nuclear Power, he evaluates how centralism and essentialism can affect situations at a national level.

David Henderson, head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the second lecture in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'.In this lecture entitled 'Soap Opera in High Places', David Henderson considers the leading elements of Do-It-Yourself Economics (DIYE) and explores how it differs from ideas that are widely accepted by trained economists. He asks, what are the implications of these different thoughts for economic policy? Drawing from his life experiences he serves to emphasise the point that DIYE has been, and continues to be, significant to people who are themselves influential. He shows that individual willingness to pay should be the main test of how resources are used.

David Henderson, Head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the first of five lectures in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'.In this lecture entitled 'The Power of Do-It-Yourself Economics', David Henderson explores the phenomenon of economic DIY. Explained as the unprofessional or layman's view of finances, he describes how it can contradict with the professional views of economics. Using his own experience as a British civil servant, he questions both economic ideals.

In the final lecture of his series 'Minds, Brains and Science', John Searle, Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, examines the evidence for and against the existence of free will. In this lecture entitled 'The Freedom of the Will' Professor Searle attempts to explain why human beings stubbornly believe in their own freedom of action and debates the philosophy of free will. He concludes his Reith Lectures trying to characterise the relationship between the perceptions of self and the world around us.

In his fifth Reith Lecture from his series 'Minds, Brains and Science', John Searle, Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, considers the discipline of human behavioural science. In this lecture entitled 'A Changing Reality', Professor Searle explores the limits to the insights that we can expect from a 'science' of human behaviour. He questions the success of the natural sciences. Why have they not given us more information about human behaviour? What makes the subject so different to sciences like physics and chemistry?