Contributor(s): Dr Phillip Rode, Professor Rachel Aldred, Dr Chris Tennant, Indira Ray | This episode of LSE iQ looks at whether we should still be driving, whether public transport in cities has helped alleviate the need to drive and how driverless cars are still a distance away from really helping solve the issue of the number of cars on the road.

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

We’re keen to find out more about our audience so we can better tailor our content to suit your interests. With this in mind, we would be grateful if you could please take the time to fill out this short survey and share your feedback.

Contributor(s): Ali Allawi, Professor Shiping Tang | The problem of economic development in the Global South remains as important as ever. For centuries thinkers have tried to explain why some countries grow rich while others remain poor, with varied success.

Ali Allawi and Shiping Tang will debate current development strategies in the developing world. Our speakers will address key issues in development thought, including the role of neoliberalism, institutions and other major factors in generating long-term economic growth. In particular they will focus on how globalisation, the rise of China and rising inequalities have altered strategies of economic development in the 21st century.Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): Photo by Ann via Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silver-globe-figurine-in-a-studio-22669713/

Contributor(s): Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter | Chance, luck, and ignorance; how to put our uncertainty into numbers. We all have to live with uncertainty about what is going to happen, what has happened, and why things turned out how they did. We attribute good and bad events as "due to chance", label people as "lucky", and (sometimes) admit our ignorance.

David Spiegelhalter will show how to use the theory of probability to take apart all these ideas, and demonstrate how you can put numbers on your ignorance, and then measure how good those numbers are. Along the way we will look at three types of luck, and judge whether Derren Brown was lucky or unlucky when he was filmed flipping ten heads in a row.

Contributor(s): Steven Erlanger, Dr Elizabeth Ingleson, Professor Anand Menon, Professor Leslie Vinjamuri | What will the next US president’s strategic priorities be internationally? What are the implications for Europe and the rest of the world?

In this roundtable discussion, leading experts on world affairs take stock of the international challenges and opportunities facing the new administration in America.Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): Photo by Kaboompics.comvia Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/flattering-flag-of-united-states-of-america-4386429/

Contributor(s): Dr Max Steuer | Join us to hear Max Steuer talk about his new book, Dangerous Guesswork In Economic Policy.The book is about the need for, and the benefits of, drawing on specialist skills in formulating economic policy. Some issues can be addressed through common sense and first-hand experience. Few matters involving use of resources in the NHS, defence policy, education, housing and a host of other issues, such as high-speed rail, are of that kind. Recognising the need is the first step. With the best will in the world, drawing on knowledge is not easy. Dangerous Guesswork provides a sophisticated overview of the working of the discipline.

Contributor(s): Anwar Ibrahim, the Prime Minister of Malaysia | Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim visited LSE to deliver a lecture on Malaysia’s global strategy in an uncertain era. The event officially opened the Malaysia Auditorium at LSE and was the inaugural lecture of the Malaysia Lecture Series (an annual lecture series to be held in the Malaysia Auditorium and run by the SU Malaysia Club).

Contributor(s): Grace Blakeley, Dr Michael Vaughan | Join us to hear UK commentator and economic thinker Grace Blakeley talk about her latest book, Vulture Capitalism. In the book, Grace Blakeley takes on the world’s most powerful corporations by showing how the causes of our modern crises are the result of the economic system we have built – “a toxic melding of public and private power”. It’s not a broken system; it’s working exactly as planned. It can’t be fixed. It must be replaced.

Contributor(s): Professor Gwyn Bevan, Dr Kate Bayliss, Jo Bateman | This episode of LSE iQ explores a national scandal: widespread illegal sewage dumping by our privatised water companies, and why they are all under criminal investigation.

Speakers: Professor Gwyn Bevan, Dr Kate Bayliss, Jo Bateman

Research links:

How Did Britain Come to This? A century of systemic failures of governance by Gwyn Bevan: https://press.lse.ac.uk/site/books/m/10.31389/lsepress.hdb/

Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated: The persistence of neoliberalism in Britain by Kate Bayliss et al, European Journal of Social Theory: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13684310241241800

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

We’re keen to find out more about our audience so we can better tailor our content to suit your interests. With this in mind, we would be grateful if you could please take the time to fill out this short survey and share your feedback.

Contributor(s): Professor Erik Hurst, Professor Chrisanthi Avgerou, Professor Noam Yuchtman | As we move deeper into the 21st century, rapid advancements in automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence continue to reshape industries, raising concerns about the potential impact on workers. Will these innovations lead to widespread job losses? Or, as history suggests, will the labour market adapt?

In this insightful lecture, Erik Hurst will explore how recent developments in automation are influencing the labour market. Drawing parallels from the early 20th-century agricultural revolution, where the adoption of tractors and automated farming equipment drastically reduced agricultural employment but did not destabilize overall employment rates, Professor Hurst will examine how current automation trends may produce different effects.

Contributor(s): Dr Victor Agboga, Professor Mukulika Banerjee, Professor Sara Hobolt, Professor Peter Trubowitz | This year billions of people around the world have been to the polls. What have been the surprises and takeaways from these election results?

Our panel of LSE researchers explore some of the issues that have come to the fore in this bumper year for international politics, along with the key outcomes and implications for the world in 2025.Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): Photo by Mikhail Nilov via Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/vote-badges-on-person-s-fingers-8846624/