LSE: Public lectures and events

Contributor(s): Ben Chu | Join us for this conversation between journalist and author Ben Chu and LSE's Richard Davies about Ben's new book Exile Economics: What Happens if Globalisation Fails. In Exile Economics Ben Chu argues that nations are turning away from each other. Faith in globalisation has been fatally undermined by the pandemic, the energy crisis, surging trade frictions and swelling great power rivalry. A new vision is vying to replace what we’ve known for many decades. This vision – what Ben calls exile economics - entails a rejection of interdependence, a downgrading of multilateral collaboration and a striving for greater national self-sufficiency. The supporters of this new order argue it will establish genuine security, prosperity and peace. But is this promise achievable? Or a seductive delusion?

Contributor(s): Professor Alan Taylor | Join us for a special lecture by Alan Taylor, the newest member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, on monetary policy. He will discuss the natural rate of interest, also known as r*, including empirical estimates. He will also talk about the current economic situation, and the outlook for inflation and interest rates.

Contributor(s): Dr Danielle de Andrade Moreira, Kate Cook, Professor Michael Gerrard, Professor Jacqueline Peel, Dr Joana Setzer | This influential report provides an annual overview of key developments in climate litigation worldwide and identifies emerging trends shaping the future of climate law and governance. This year's report marks a decade since the landmark rulings in Urgenda Foundation v State of the Netherlands and Leghari v Federation of Pakistan. These cases pioneered the ‘rights-turn’ in climate litigation. Ten years on, the field has matured and diversified. In this edition, we expand our typology of case strategies to examine trends in cases heard by Supreme Courts and their equivalents, offering new insights into litigation outcomes at the highest judicial levels.Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): Photo by Kaboompics.com via Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/women-protesting-and-speaking-through-megaphones-8106775/

Contributor(s): Professor Mary O’Mahony, Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides | How can we shape engaging work environments that foster productivity and enable workers to flourish? Using evidence from the Pissarides Report the event will highlight the importance of not only being skilled but also feeling capable of drawing on technological advancements in the workplace.Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): Photo by fauxels via Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-people-doing-handshakes-3183197/

Sylvan Lutz, a researcher focused on automating net-zero assessments, joins John Cardoso Silva, an AI and social science expert, along with Amy Fisher, a director at Moir AI, and David McNeil, a VP of climate research. Melissa Chapman, an environmental policy professor, rounds out the panel. They explore how AI can transform climate action through high-quality data while warning against the risks of misinformation and greenwashing. The discussion emphasizes the need for responsible AI development, transparency, and community consent to navigate these challenges effectively.

Contributor(s): Kofi Mawuli Klu, Lidia Thorpe, Dr Imaobong Umoren | How can we reckon with the complex and painful legacies of the British Empire? What would it mean to create an international truth-telling commission, and why is this conversation so urgent today? This event explores the vision for a Peoples' International Truth-Telling Commission on the British Empire - a platform to uncover historical injustices, amplify voices silenced by colonial histories, and challenge enduring inequalities. The Commission will foster dialogue and accountability that transcends national borders, acknowledging the shared but unequal impacts of empire on the Global South and North alike.

Contributor(s): Roger Highfield, Suhair Khan, Isabel Losada, Professor Michael Muthukrishna | Where should we look for optimism about the future? Our final panel come together to share some of the ideas, innovations and discoveries that could shape the world to come for the better.

Contributor(s): William Dalrymple | How did ancient India transform the world and what lessons can we learn for the future? Historian and best-selling author William Dalrymple will be in conversation with Professor in Social Anthropology at LSE, Mukulika Banerjee.This recording contains strong language.

Contributor(s): Dr Sara Geneletti, Dr Laura Gilbert, Professor Helen Margetts | Routinely collected UK government data sets contain staggering amounts of information. The potential for the use of these data to understand how government policies are changing people’s lives, to aid better decision making and to hold government accountable for the policies they make is enormous. The process is not however all plain sailing. Good, big, and representative data sets are essential, and datasets are often far from perfect with inherent biases and missing entries. Cleaning data is time consuming and labour intensive and analysis requires skilled data scientists. These issues can be overcome or at least mitigated, and in the future government policies could be based on evidence drawn from these data and tested on model populations prior to implementation.

Contributor(s): Dr Sakshi Ghai, Adam Ingle, Michael Murray, Professor Dylan Yamada-Rice | One in three internet users is a child, yet the digital world was not designed with children in mind. As we witness an acceleration of the development of technologies like generative AI, rapidly transforming children’s lives, tech regulation often prioritises speed over human and children’s rights. Yet the technology-related challenges children face and will face in coming years differ greatly worldwide. What can we learn from engaging children from around the world in imagining what children’s digital lives might look like in the future and what changes are needed to ensure child rights respecting digital environments and tech regulation?