Contributor(s): Professor Joseph Stiglitz | In his new book The Euro: And its Threat to Europe, Nobel Prize-winning economist and bestselling author Joseph Stiglitz argues that saving Europe may mean abandoning the Euro. Stiglitz dismantles the prevailing consensus around what ails Europe and dismisses the champions of austerity. Instead, Stiglitz will show that Europe’s stagnation and bleak outlook are a direct result of the fundamental flaws in the euro project – economic integration outpacing political integration with a structure that actively promotes divergence rather than convergence. Money relentlessly leaves the weaker member states and goes to the strong, with debt accumulating in a few ill-favoured countries. The question now is: can the euro be saved? Joseph Stiglitz (@JosephEStiglitz) was Chief Economist at the World Bank until January 2000. He is currently University Professor of the Columbia Business School and Chair of the Management Board and Director of Graduate Summer Programs, Brooks World Poverty Institute, University of Manchester. He won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001 and is the best-selling author of Globalization and Its Discontents, The Roaring Nineties, Making Globalization Work, Freefall, The Price of Inequality and The Great Divide, all published by Penguin. Waltraud Schelkle is an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the European Institute and has been at LSE since autumn 2001, teaching courses on the political economy of European integration at MSc and PhD level. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is celebrating its Twenty Fifth Anniversary in 2016. It is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Contributor(s): Ryan Pyle | Join adventurer and TV presenter, Ryan Pyle as he talks about his two months traveling through the most remote and exciting locations in Brazil, on his latest season of Tough Rides: Brazil. Born in Toronto, Canada, Ryan Pyle (@RyanPyle) spent his early years close to home. After obtaining a degree in International Politics from the University of Toronto in 2001, Ryan realised a life long dream and traveled to China on an exploratory mission. In 2002 Ryan moved to China permanently and in 2004 Ryan became a regular contributor to the New York Times. In 2009 Ryan was listed by PDN Magazine as one of the 30 emerging photographers in the world. In 2010 Ryan began working full time on television and documentary film production and has produced and presented several large multi-episode television series for major broadcasters in the USA, Canada, UK, Asia, CHINA and continental Europe.

Contributor(s): Sir Malcolm Rifkind | For almost forty years, Malcolm Rifkind served at the forefront of British politics. In this lecture, Sir Malcolm will give a lively account of his years in government and opposition, detailing his involvement in some of recent history’s most important events. This event marks the launch of Sir Malcolm's new book, Power and Pragmatism: The Memoirs of Malcolm Rifkind. Sir Malcolm Rifkind was born in Edinburgh in 1946. He served for 33 years in Parliament and was a Minister for 18 years under Margaret Thatcher and John Major. He has been Secretary of State for Scotland, for Transport, for Defence, and Foreign Secretary. In 2005 he was appointed by David Cameron as Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, which has oversight of MI6, MI5 and GCHQ, and served in that role until 2015. Michael Cox is Director of LSE Ideas and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE. LSE IDEAS (@LSEIDEAS) is a foreign policy think-tank within LSE's Institute for Global Affairs.

Contributor(s): Chrystia Freeland | In a world of growing protectionist trends, how can trade respond to the concerns of people who feel they were left behind, and how can we shape the 21st century inclusive trade agenda that everyone will benefit from. Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) is Canada’s Minister of International Trade. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University, and continued her studies on a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University. Before becoming a Member of Parliament in 2013, she was a successful author and journalist for the Financial Times, The Washington Post and The Globe and Mail, as well as editor-at-large for Thomson-Reuters. Karen Smith is Professor of International Relations and Director of the European Foreign Policy Unit at LSE. The Department of International Relations (@LSEIRDept) is now in its 88th year, making it one of the oldest and largest in the world.

Contributor(s): Ruchir Sharma | Ruchir Sharma explores the forces triggering political revolts and economic slowdowns in every major region. By narrowing down the thousands of factors that can shape a country’s future, he spells out ten clear rules for identifying the next big winners and losers in the global economy. Ruchir Sharma will also discuss what light his analysis and data casts on our economic prospects after Brexit. This event marks the launch of his new book, The Rise and Fall of Nations: Ten Rules of Change in the Post-Crisis World. Ruchir Sharma is Head of Emerging Markets and Chief Global Strategist at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. His acclaimed book, Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles (2012), an international bestseller, foretold the slowdown in the celebrated “BRIC” economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Jonathan Black is Europe Director at HM Treasury. He has held a number of senior economic policy roles in the UK government, including Press Secretary and Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. His is an alumni and governor of the LSE.

Contributor(s): Dr Gabriel Zucman | This lecture will discuss how big the wealth hidden in offshore tax havens is, what are the consequences for inequality, how tax havens work and are organized, and how we can begin to approach a solution. Gabriel Zucman (@gabriel_zucman) is Assistant Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley. He's the author of The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens. Camille Landais is Associate Professor in Economics, London School of Economics, and Co-Editor, Journal of Public Economics. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Contributor(s): Dr Adam Perkins, Dr Kitty Stewart | In this lecture Dr Perkins argues that welfare policies which increase the number of children born into disadvantaged households risk proliferating dysfunctional, employment-resistant personality characteristics, due to the damaging effect on personality development of exposure to childhood disadvantage. Adam Perkins (@AdamPerkinsPhD) is a Lecturer in the Neurobiology of Personality at King’s College London. Kitty Stewart (@kittyjstewart) is Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. Jason McKenzie Alexander is Professor of Philosophy, LSE. LSE's Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS), established in 1990, promotes research into philosophical, methodological and foundational questions arising in the natural and the social sciences, and their application to practical problems. The Centre's work is inherently interdisciplinary, and a full calendar of events contributes to a lively intellectual environment.

Contributor(s): Professor Simon Hix | Presented by the Harold Laski Chair and Professor of Political Science, Simon Hix, this lecture will discuss the political and economic ramifications for Britain and Europe following the EU Referendum results. Professor Simon Hix is one of the leading researchers, teachers, and commentators on EU politics and institutions in the UK. He has published over 100 books and articles on various aspects of EU, European, British and comparative politics. He regularly gives evidence to committees in the UK House of Commons and House of Lords, and in the European Parliament, and he has advised the UK Cabinet Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office under both Labour and Conservative administrations.

Contributor(s): Branko Milanovic | The talk will discuss empirically recent changes in global income distribution, creation of a “global middle class”, stagnation of median incomes in the West and propose Kuznets cycles as a useful tool to understand these changes and their future evolution. Branko Milanovic (@BrankoMilan) is Senior Scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study Center, and Visiting Presidential Professor, Graduate Center, City University of New York. His new book is Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization. Robert Wade is Professor of Political Economy and Development in the Department of International Development at LSE.

Contributor(s): Professor Joseph Henrich | The ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another has allowed us to create ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have enabled successful expansion into myriad environments. Drawing insights from lost European explorers, clever chimpanzees, mobile hunter-gatherers, neuroscience, ancient bones, and the human genome, Joseph Henrich, author of The Secret of Our Success, will discuss how our collective intelligence has propelled our species’ evolution. Joseph Henrich (@JoHenrich) is a professor at Harvard University in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, and holds a Canada Research Chair at UBC, where he's a professor in both Economics and Psychology. His research focuses on cultural evolution, and culture-driven genetic evolution. He’s conducted fieldwork in Peru, Chile and in the South Pacific. In 2004 he won the Presidential Early Career Award (USA). Timothy Besley is School Professor of Economics and Political Science & W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics at LSE. STICERD (@STICERD_LSE) brings together world-class academics to put economics and related disciplines at the forefront of research and policy. Founded in 1978 by the renowned Japanese economist Michio Morishima, with donations from Suntory and Toyota, we are a thriving research community within the LSE.