LSE: Public lectures and events London School of Economics and Political Science

Contributor(s): Dr Kitty Stewart | A campaign by the Manchester United footballer, Marcus Rashford, has prompted the UK government to provide extra support for children from low-income families during the pandemic. Even before coronavirus, child poverty had been rising for several years. This latest bite-sized episode of LSE iQ explores the question, ‘How can we end child poverty in the UK?’
Joanna Bale talks to Kitty Stewart of LSE’s Social Policy Department and Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion. Dr Stewart is currently part of a major research programme examining what progress has been made in addressing social inequalities through social policies.
Research links:
K Cooper and K Stewart (2020): Does Household Income Affect children’s Outcomes? A Systematic Review of the Evidence
 
K Stewart and M Reader (2020 forthcoming): The Conservatives’ record on early childhood: policy, spending and outcomes 2015-20.
 
Polly Vizard, John Hills et al (2020 forthcoming): The Conservatives’ Record on Social Policy: Policies, spending and outcomes 2015 to pre-Covid 2020.

Contributor(s): Professor Rohini Pande |
Join us for the annual Coase-Phillips Lecture which this year will be delivered by Rohini Pande.
Even before COVID-19 changed the trajectory of global poverty reduction, the returns to economic growth were increasingly unequally divided in developing economies. Based on lessons from India’s myriad social protection programs – including rural employment guarantee, post COVID-19 cash transfers to women and food transfer programs - this lecture will discuss the implications of unequal power structures and low state capacity for the design of effective anti-poverty programs.
The talk will then ask – looking ahead, how should considerations of state capacity and accountability be factored in evaluating policy proposals, such as Universal Basic Income and urban employment guarantees? Or, in devising policies to eventually put an end to the pandemic?
Rohini Pande is the Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center at Yale. She is a co-editor of American Economic Review: Insights and an alumna of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Pande’s research is largely focused on how formal and informal institutions shape power relationships and patterns of economic and political advantage in society, particularly in developing countries. She is interested the role of public policy in providing the poor and disadvantaged political and economic power, and how notions of economic justice and human rights can help justify and enable such change. Her most recent work focuses on testing innovative ways to make the state more accountable to its citizens, such as strengthening women’s economic and political opportunities, ensuring that environmental regulations reduce harmful emissions, and providing citizens effective means to voice their demand for state services.
Noam Yuchtman joined LSE as Professor in 2019, having been awarded a British Academy Global Professorship. In addition to his position at LSE, Noam is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and serves on the editorial boards of the Review of Economic Studies, the Economic Journal, the Journal of the European Economic Association, Economica, and the Journal of Economic History.
The Department of Economics (@LSEEcon) at LSE, is one of the leading economics departments in the world. We are a large department, ensuring all mainstream areas of economics are strongly represented in research and teaching.
Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSECoasePhillips

Contributor(s): Baroness Tyler, Lord O'Donnell, Professor Lord Layard, Alan Jope |
This 30th Anniversary CEP event will ask can wellbeing become the focus for social science? How would this change economics and policy analysis? How would it change policy priorities for a post-Covid-19 world?
Alan Jope (@alanjope) was appointed CEO of Unilever in 2019, and has worked for the company in North America for 14 years and in Asia for 13 years.
Richard Layard (@RichardLayard) is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science and currently heads the CEP's Wellbeing Research Programme.
Gus O'Donnell (@Gus_ODonnell) was Cabinet Secretary and Head of the British Civil Service from 2005-2011 and is currently Chairman of Frontier Economics.
Claire Tyler (@ClaireT_UKLords) is the Liberal Democrats Lords Spokesperson for Mental Health. She became Chair of CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) in February 2012. She became President of the NCB (National Children’s Bureau) in August 2012 and Vice President of Relate in November 2012. Previously, Claire was the Chief Executive Officer of Relate, the UK’s leading relationship support agency between 2007 and 2012. This followed a number of senior positions within Government, the last of which was Director of the Vulnerable Children’s Group at the DfES (now the Department for Education). She also chaired the ‘Kids in the Middle’ coalition, a group of national charities and agony aunts campaigning for better services for separating parents and their children.
Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this, she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England.
The Centre for Economic Performance (@CEP_LSE) is an interdisciplinary research centre at LSE. Established by the ESRC in 1990, pit is now one of the leading applied economic research groups in Europe.
This event forms part of LSE’s Shaping the Post-COVID World initiative, a series of debates about the direction the world could and should be taking after the crisis.
Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSECOVID19

Contributor(s): Professor Stephanie J. Rickard, Professor Barry Eichengreen | Explanations for variants of populism are typically framed as a contest between culture and economics. Building on his recent book, The Populist Temptation, Professor Barry Eichengreen (University of California-Berkeley) will consider the arguments for both. Utilising data from British Election Surveys, he will show that populism, and Brexit in particular, is as much about economics as it is about culture and identity.
Barry Eichengreen (@B_Eichengreen) is the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
Stephanie J. Rickard (@SJRickard) is a Professor of Political Science at the LSE in the Department of Government. Her research examines the effects of political institutions on economic policies. She has appeared on various media outlets to discuss events in the global economy, including BBC Radio 4's flagship Today programme.
Peter Trubowitz (@ptrubowitz) is a Professor of International Relations and Director of the US Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Associate Fellow at Chatham House.
The LSE's United States Centre (@LSE_US) is a hub for global expertise, analysis and commentary on America. Its mission is to promote policy-relevant and internationally-oriented scholarship to meet the growing demand for fresh analysis and critical debate on the United States.
Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEUSPopulism

Contributor(s): Ginette Azcona, Dr Roopa Dhatt, Dr Roopa Dhatt, Megan O’Donnell | This event brings together global experts on gender issues to discuss the urgent need to support women. How can women’s vulnerability be considered in pandemic preparedness and response? And what is the role of the policymaker in reestablishing the path to a more equal society for men and women?
While there have been significant advances in gender equality in the past 30 years, the COVID-19 threatens to undo this good work. Studies show more men are dying of COVID-19 but the negative secondary social and economic effects as a result of the pandemic will negatively affect more women. School closures, lockdowns and reduced access to healthcare are just some of the ways the pandemic is already exaggerating existing gender disparities.
Ginette Azcona is a Research and Data Specialist at UN Women and one of the principle authors of UN Women's 2018 flagship report Turning Promises into Action. She joined UN Women in 2010 to work on its flagship report Progress of the World’s Women. Before this, she was part of the research and writing team for UNDP’s 2009 Human Development Report: Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development. She has authored numerous publications on human development, human rights, social justice and gender and development data and currently leads the data and statistical work for UN Women’s flagship reports.
Roopa Dhatt (@roopadhatt) is the Executive Director of Women in Global Health. She is a passionate advocate for gender equality in global health and a leading voice in the movement to correct the gender imbalance in global health leadership. She is also a practicing internal medicine physician.
Sarah Hawkes is a medical doctor with a degree in sociology and a PhD in epidemiology. She is Professor of Global Public Health at University College London where she leads a research theme analysing the use of research evidence in policy processes, particularly in relation to gender and health equity. Sarah is Director of the UCL Centre for Gender and Global Health and co-Director and co-founder of Global Health 50/50 which advances action and accountability for gender equality in global health.
Megan O’Donnell (@modonnell1231) is the assistant director for gender and a senior policy analyst at the Center for Global Development, where she works on issues related to women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion, gender data and measurement, and development effectiveness. Prior to CGD, O’Donnell worked at the ONE Campaign, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Center for Research on Women, CARE USA, Banyan Global, and the Middle East Institute. She has a master’s degree from the University of Oxford and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.
Clare Wenham (@clarewenham) is Assistant Professor of Global Health Policy at the LSE. She specialises in global health security and the politics and policy of pandemic preparedness and outbreak response. She has researched this for over a decade, through influenza, Ebola and Zika, ranging from questions of global governance, role of WHO and World Bank, national priorities and innovative financing for pandemic control. More recently she has been examining the role of women in epidemics and associated policy. For COVID-19 Clare is Co-PI on grant from the CIHR and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation analysing the gendered dimensions of the outbreak.
The Department of Health Policy (@LSEHealthPolicy) trains and inspires people passionate about health by advancing and challenging their understanding of health systems and the social, economic and political contexts in which they operate.
This event forms part of LSE’s Shaping the Post-COVID World initiative, a series of debates about the direction the world could and should be taking after t

Contributor(s): Professor Michael Tomasello |
Humans are biologically adapted for cultural life in ways that other primates are not. Humans have unique motivations and cognitive skills for sharing emotions, experience and actions, whereas our nearest primate relatives do not.
Michael Tomasello, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University, is one of the world’s leading researchers on social learning, communication and language in human children and great apes.
Sandra Jovchelovitch is a social and clinical psychologist by training and her research focuses on human development under contextual adversity, the social psychology of public spheres, community development and the socio-cultural context of knowledge. Sandra is a Professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Psychologyical and Behavioural Science.
The Department of Psychological & Behavioural Science (@LSE_PBS) is a growing community of researchers, intellectuals, and students who investigate the human mind and behaviour in a societal context. Our department conducts cutting-edge psychological and behavioural research that is both based in and applied to the real world.
Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEHumanCooperation