LSE: Public lectures and events

Speaker(s): Professor Peter John, Professor Theresa M Marteau, Sanchayan Banerjee, Professor Gerry Stoker | Recent advancements made by the UK's Committee on Climate Change (UKCCC) towards achieving the Paris Agreement goals by announcing their net zero emissions target shows the UK's commitment to tackling one of the most important challenges of the 21st century: the climate change dilemma. Can we sustain this behaviour change through old-school nudges only? Or is there a need for greater reflection on the part of individuals? Peter John (@peterjohn10) is Professor of Public Policy at King's College, London and author of Nudge, Nudge, Think, Think: Experimenting with Ways to Change Civic Behaviour. Professor Theresa M Marteau (@MarteauTM) is Director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit, University of Cambridge. Sanchayan Banerjee (@SanchayanBanerj) is a PhD Candidate in Environmental Economics at LSE. He holds an MSc in Environmental Economics and Climate Change (Distinction) from LSE (2017-18) and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics (Silver Medalist) from Jadavpur University, India (2014-17). Professor Gerry Stoker (@ProfStoker) is Professor of Governance at the University of Southampton. Dr Ganga Shreedhar (@geeshree)Assistant Professor of Behavioural Science in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, and Affiliate of the Department of Geography and Environment, LSE. The Department of Geography and Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld This event is part of the LSE Festival: Shape the World running from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 March 2020, with a series of events exploring how social science can make the world a better place.

Speaker(s): Lord MacPherson, Professor Kai Spiekermann | Has the British elite’s role changed over a century? This evening’s event will investigate the changing role of the political elite in the period of almost a century since Noel Coward produced his one act comedy Hands Across the Sea. For this play Coward drew upon his intimate friendship with Lord Mountbatten and his wife Edwina, who went on to preside over British withdrawal from India. The decades since Coward’s play have seen World War II, the Suez Crisis, the Winds of Change, and entry into Europe in 1973, as well as now, in the 21st century, Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. Our panel will discuss whether the composition of the British political elite and its role has changed over this period. The panel discussion will be followed by a student-led production of Coward’s one act comedy Hands Across the Sea, by the LSE Student Union Drama Society and the LSE Language Centre. Lord MacPherson is former Permanent Secretary to the Treasury. Kai Spiekermann is Professor of Political Philosophy and the Doctoral Programme Director in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics. Dr Angus Wrenn is Co-ordinating Language Teacher (EAP) with special responsibilities for Literature. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld Has the British elite’s role changed over a century? This evening’s event will investigate the changing role of the political elite in the period of almost a century since Noel Coward produced his one act comedy Hands Across the Sea. For this play Coward drew upon his intimate friendship with Lord Mountbatten and his wife Edwina, who went on to preside over British withdrawal from India. The decades since Coward’s play have seen World War II, the Suez Crisis, the Winds of Change, and entry into Europe in 1973, as well as now, in the 21st century, Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. Our panel will discuss whether the composition of the British political elite and its role has changed over this period. The panel discussion will be followed by a student-led production of Coward’s one act comedy Hands Across the Sea, by the LSE Student Union Drama Society and the LSE Language Centre. Lord MacPherson is former Permanent Secretary to the Treasury. Kai Spiekermann is Professor of Political Philosophy and the Doctoral Programme Director in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics. Dr Angus Wrenn is Co-ordinating Language Teacher (EAP) with special responsibilities for Literature. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld Has the British elite’s role changed over a century? This evening’s event will investigate the changing role of the political elite in the period of almost a century since Noel Coward produced his one act comedy Hands Across the Sea. For this play Coward drew upon his intimate friendship with Lord Mountbatten and his wife Edwina, who went on to preside over British withdrawal from India. The decades since Coward’s play have seen World War II, the Suez Crisis, the Winds of Change, and entry into Europe in 1973, as well as now, in the 21st century, Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. Our panel will discuss whether the composition of the British political elite and its role has changed over this period. The panel discussion will be followed by a student-led production of Coward’s one act comedy Hands Across the Sea, by the LSE Student Union Drama Society and the LSE Language Centre. Lord MacPherson is former Permanent Secretary to the Treasury. Kai Spiekermann is Professor of Political Philosophy and the Doctoral Programme Director in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics. Dr Angus Wrenn is Co-ordinating Language Teacher (EAP) with special responsibilities for Literature. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld

Speaker(s): Dr Shakuntala Banaji, Darren Moon, Peter Pomerantsev | Propaganda seems like a very 20th century issue. But it is back on the agenda due to the scandals provoked by social media’s manipulation of voters in the Brexit referendum and the Trump election. This round table brings together experts on propaganda and the Internet to explore the populist problem presented by “fake news” – and how we can resist it. It explores examples from India, Russia, and China: Banaji on WhatsApp misinformation in India, Pomerantsev on Russian misinformation campaigns, Callahan on China’s political influence campaigns, and Moon and an International Relations LSE student on their short video made for the “Visual International Politics: IR318” course. The goal is to think about how we need to develop the critical visual literacy skills that allow us to “reshape the world” in more inclusive and democratic ways. Shakuntala Banaji is associate professor of media and communications at the LSE. Her recent publications include the LSE report WhatsApp Vigilantes: An exploration of citizen reception and circulation of WhatsApp misinformation linked to mob violence in India. Darren Moon is Senior Learning Technologist in the LSE Eden Centre for Education Enhancement. He works closely with academic colleagues to develop the use of audio-visual media for teaching and learning. and has a particular interest in visual culture, methods and pedagogies. William A. Callahan is Professor of International Relations at LSE. His most recent book is Sensible Politics: Visualizing International Relations. Peter Pomerantsev is a senior fellow in the Institute for Global Affairs at the LSE. He is author of This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld

Speaker(s): Professor Liam Delaney, Dr Barbara Fasolo, Dr Adam Oliver, Dr Jet Sanders | Insights from psychology and behavioural economics are shaping policy-making all over the world, and the LSE is helping to make this happening. In the last decade methods and insights from behavioural science have been increasingly applied to inform policy decision-making all over the world. The UK has led this global trend since 2010, when the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) - the ‘nudge unit’ - was set up within the Cabinet Office. Since then, behavioural units have been created in more than 200 public institutions – not only governments, but also international institutions (e.g. World Bank, WHO, OECD, EU), and national regulators (e.g. in the UK the Financial Conduct Authority - FCA; NEST; Public Health England - PHE) – as well as in many NGOs and non-profit companies. Since the very beginning, the LSE has been a key part of this fast-growing trend. On the teaching side, for example, the LSE Executive MSc in Behavioural Science is the world-first (and only) executive Master programme to have trained, to date, more than 250 leaders of such behavioural units across the world. On the research side, moreover, the LSE has behavioural expertise that has been regularly applied to policy projects for the betterment of society. This event will discuss these trends and the various research collaborations that behavioural scientists across all the LSE have been developing in a variety of policy domains by working together with numerous partner institutions. Liam Delaney (@LiamDelaneyEcon) is Professor of Economics at UCD and Visiting Professor of Economics at Stirling University. A former Fulbright and Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow, he was Deputy Director of the UCD Geary Institute from 2008 to 2011, and Deputy Dean of Stirling Management School from 2011 to 2016. He has worked at the intersection of economics and psychology for his career and has published widely in both economics and psychology journals, including Economic Journal, Journal of European Economics Association, Health Psychology, Psychological Science, and Journal of Applied Psychology. Dr Barbara Fasolo (@barbarafasolo) is Associate Professor of Behavioural Science in the Department of Management and Head of the Behavioral Research Lab. She studies how people make decisions that involve risk, trade-offs, and complexity and is interested in choice architecture that helps good decision making. Dr Adam Oliver (@1969ajo) is a behavioural economist and behavioural public policy analyst at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His edited the collection ‘Behavioural Public Policy’ (Cambridge UP, 2013), and authored the books, ‘The Origins of Behavioural Public Policy’ (Cambridge UP, 2017) and ‘Reciprocity and the Art of Behavioural Public Policy’ (Cambridge UP, 2019). He edits the journals Health Economics, Policy and Law, and Behavioural Public Policy. Dr Jet Sanders (@jetgsanders) finds patterns that can be used to change behaviour for social good, with a particular interest in time, health and wellbeing. Jet completed a PhD in experimental psychology, worked as a Principal Behavioural Insights Advisor in Public Health England’s Behavioural Insights Team and is now an Assistant Professor at the Psychological and Behavioural Science Department of the London School of Economics. Dr Matteo M Galizzi (@Matteo_Galizzi) is Associate Professor of Behavioural Science and Co-Director of the Executive MSc in Behavioural Science in the LSE Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. @LSEBehavioural Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld This event is part of the LSE Festival: Shape the World running from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 March 2020, with a series of events exploring how social science can make the world a better place.

Speaker(s): Professor Lawrence R. Jacobs, Gideon Rachman, Professor Leah Wright Rigueur, Professor Linda Yueh | Who will win the 2020 US presidential election? The outcome could shape America's - and the world's - future for years to come. On March 3rd, 2020, Americans in 14 states will pick their candidates to face off against President Trump in the November presidential election. With the largest Democratic field of candidates in recent memory, Super Tuesday will reshape the already hotly contested Democratic race. Will the party turn to a progressive candidate or will a more centrist candidate emerge from Super Tuesday as the clear front-runner? The day after this important contest, join us for a panel discussion with academics and journalists who will reflect on the US presidential primary results and give their predictions for the general election. Lawrence R. Jacobs (@larryrjacobs) is the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance in the Hubert H. Humphrey School and the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. Gideon Rachman (@gideonrachman) is Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times. Leah Wright Rigueur (@LeahRigueur) is Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Linda Yueh (@lindayueh) is Visiting Professor, LSE IDEAS, and Chair of the LSE Economic Diplomacy Commission. Peter Trubowitz (@ptrubowitz) is Professor of International Relations and Director of the US Centre at LSE and Associate Fellow at Chatham House. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld

Speaker(s): Professor Simon Glendinning, Dr Darian Meacham, Professor Helen Parish | We explore questions concerning events and developments which have been thought fundamental to the history of a distinctively "modern" European world - the decline of magic and religion and the rise of science and technology. Such events and developments are not only to be thought in relation to the opening-up and holding sway of that world but also in relation to its threatening crises and exhaustion. In 1919, in the wake of the first world war of European origin, the French poet and essayist Paul Valery reflected on a European world which seemed alive suddenly to its own end: "We later civilizations we too now know that we are mortal". How should we understand the becoming-modern of the European world? And what, today, should we make of the events and developments which have given rise to a sense of its ending? Simon Glendinning (@lonanglo) is Professor in European Philosophy in the European Institute at LSE. Darian Meacham is Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at Maastricht University. Helen Parish (@HelenLParish) is Professor of Early Modern History in the Department of History at the University of Reading. Dr Dina Gusejnova is Assistant Professor in International History at LSE. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld This event is part of the LSE Festival: Shape the World running from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 March 2020, with a series of events exploring how social science can make the world a better place.

Speaker(s): Dr Ann Pettifor, Gianpiero Nacci, Rhian-Mari Thomas, Steve Waygood | A key challenge for the COP26 climate conference to be held in Glasgow in November 2020 is to agree how to harness the world’s financial system behind a rapid transition to a net-zero, resilient and inclusive global economy. Many positive developments are underway among central banks, investors, civil society and development banks. But at present, these do not add up to a credible strategy for mobilising the trillions that will be needed for climate action both in industrialised countries such as the UK and also in the developing countries of the Global South. This event brings together leaders in sustainable finance who will explore how key financial breakthroughs can be achieved in 2020. Gianpiero Nacci (@NacciGianpiero) is Deputy Director of the Energy Efficiency and Climate Change team at EBRD. Ann Pettifor (@AnnPettifor) is Director of PRIME and author of The Case for the Green New Deal. Rhian-Mari Thomas (@RhianMariThomas) is Chief Executive Officer at the Green Finance Institute. Steve Waygood (@stevewaygood) is Chief Responsible Investment Officer at Aviva Investors. Nick Robins (@NVJRobins1) is Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance, Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at LSE. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld This event is part of the LSE Festival: Shape the World running from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 March 2020, with a series of events exploring how social science can make the world a better place. Video The recording of the Facebook Live of this event is available to watch at Financing a Global Climate Deal. Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

Speaker(s): Professor Ricky Burdett, Cllr Muhammed Butt, Amica Dall, Cllr Georgia Gould | The tensions between economic growth, social inclusion and environmental sustainability are putting London, like other global cities, under pressure. Local authorities are needing to make trade-offs between new development and existing neighbourhoods to accommodate more housing and services. What impact will these choices have on the shape of London? Ricky Burdett (@BURDETTR) is Professor of Urban Studies at LSE and Director of the Urban Age and LSE Cities. Muhammed Butt (@MAsgharButt2) is Leader of Brent Council. Amica Dall (@Assemblestudio) is one of the directors of Assemble, a democratically run architecture, art and design practice. Georgia Gould (@Georgia_Gould) is Leader of Camden Council and Deputy Leader of London Councils. Tony Travers is Associate Dean of the School of Public Policy and Director of LSE London, LSE. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld This event is part of the LSE Festival: Shape the World running from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 March 2020, with a series of events exploring how social science can make the world a better place.

Speaker(s): Dr Luna Glucksberg, Sonia Medina | Less than 2% of global philanthropic capital is dedicated to climate causes despite the very widely shared view that climate represents a genuine and urgent crisis. Join our panel of experts to discuss giving, power, inequality and the climate crisis. Dr Luna Glucksberg ( @luna_inequality) Research Fellow, LSE’s International Inequalities Institute. Sonia Medina (@medinagomez) is Executive Director for Climate at CIFF (Children’s Investment Fund Foundation). Stephan Chambers is Director of LSE’s Marshall Institute (@LSEMarshall). Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld This event is part of the LSE Festival: Shape the World running from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 March 2020, with a series of events exploring how social science can make the world a better place.

Speaker(s): Professor Simon Hix, Dr George Ofosu, Professor Peter Trubowitz | What are the forces that are shaping the world today? LSE experts explore the current political, economic and social landscape by using examples from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. How do they see the changing world from the perspective of those areas and what should the agenda be for the social sciences from their experience and expertise? Simon Hix (@simonjhix) is Pro-Director (Research) and Harold Laski Professor of Political Science at LSE. He is one of the leading researchers, teachers, and commentators on European and comparative politics in the UK. He has published over 100 books and articles and has won several prestigious prizes and fellowships for his research, including from the US-UK Fulbright Commission, the American Political Science Association, and the UK Economic and Social Research Council. He is also a prize-winning teacher, and continues to teach “Introduction to Political Science” to over 300 first-year undergraduate students. George Ofosu is Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at LSE. His research focuses on political accountability, election integrity, legislator behavior, and the quality of democracy, with a regional focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. He also works on issues of research design and transparency. His research has appeared in American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science and Electoral Studies. Dr. Ofosu is a Democracy and Development Fellow at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development. Peter Trubowitz is a Professor of International Relations, and Director of the US Centre at LSE and Associate Fellow at Chatham House. His main teaching and research interests are in the fields of international security and US foreign policy. He also writes and comments frequently on US politics. Before joining the LSE, he was Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. He has also held visiting positions at Harvard, Princeton, University of California at San Diego, Universidad de Chile, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City, and the Beijing Foreign Studies University, where he was the J. William Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer in American Foreign Policy. Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Cox, Professor Matthew Jones, Professor Anita Prazmowska, Professor David Stevenson | How can history be used in making judgements about the present? We will be looking at the First World War, the History of Poland, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the End of the Cold War for answers. Michael Cox is Director of LSE IDEAS and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE. Matthew Jones is Professor of International History and Head of the Department of International History at LSE. Anita Prazmowska is Professor of International History and Deputy Head of Department of International History at LSE. David Stevenson is Stevenson Professor of International History at LSE. Dina Gusejnova is Assistant Professor of International History at LSE. Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #ShapetheWorld

Speaker(s): John Studzinski | John Studzinski will speak on the next phase of the anti-slavery movement. He will set out what must be done to keep the eyes of the world on this human rights crisis, and how the frontline and business communities can become more unified in the abolitionist effort. John Studzinski is vice chairman of PIMCO and a managing director. As vice chairman, he helps advance PIMCO’s global strategy and serves as a key strategic advisor to many clients around the world. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2018, he was vice chairman, investor relations and business development, and a senior managing director at Blackstone, overseeing sovereign and institutional investor relationships and advising large family offices. Mr. Studzinski was previously head of European investment banking at Morgan Stanley and deputy chairman of Morgan Stanley International. He also worked at HSBC Group, helping to build its investment banking division and serving on the bank’s group management board. Mr Studzinski is a non-executive director at the Home Office in the U.K., chair of the Home Office’s Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) and co-chair of the Business Against Slavery Forum, a partnership between government and business to accelerate progress in tackling modern slavery in supply chains. He is the co-founder and chair of the Arise Foundation, which partners with local networks to stop human trafficking, and vice-chair emeritus of Human Rights Watch. He is also founder and chairman of the Genesis Foundation, a U.K.-based charity that supports young artists. He has 30 years of investment experience and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College. In 2008, the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List named him Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the arts and charity. 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 Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) is a research centre that brings together a group of world class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and help design policies to alleviate it. The Department of Economics (@LSEEcon) at LSE is one of the leading economics departments in the world. They are a large department, ensuring all mainstream areas of economics are strongly represented in research and teaching. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEAntiSlavery

Speaker(s): Lord Sainsbury | Is neoclassical growth theory dead? Why have the biggest industrial economies stagnated since the financial crisis? Is the idea of a competitive threat from China due to a lack of understanding of economic theory or is it a genuine danger to our standard of living? At this event David Sainsbury will set out a new theory of economic growth which explains why the G7 countries have experienced slowing rates of labour productivity over the last twenty five years, the so-called ‘productivity puzzle’, and put forward policies which governments can adapt to innovate and restore their rates of economic growth. In his new book which he will be talking about at this event David puts forward a new theory of economic growth, placing individual firms' investment decisions in the central role. He argues that economic growth comes not as a steady process, but as a series of jumps, based on investment in high value-added firms. He suggests a new theory of growth and development, with a role for government in 'picking winners' at the level of technologies and industries rather than individual firms. With the role of industrial policy at the centre of the Brexit debate, but a significant intellectual gap in setting out what that policy should be, this talk could not be more timely. David Sainsbury was Finance Director of J. Sainsbury plc from 1973 – 1990 and Chairman from 1992 – 1998. He became Lord Sainsbury of Turville in October, 1997 and was appointed Minister of Science and Innovation from July 1998 until November 2006. He is the founder of the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, and founded and chairs the Institute for Government. He was elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in October 2011. This event marks the publication of David's new book, Windows of Opportunity: How Nations Create Wealth. 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 LSE School of Public Policy (@LSEPublicPolicy) is an international community where ideas and practice meet. Our approach creates professionals with the ability to analyse, understand and resolve the challenges of contemporary governance. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEWealth

Speaker(s): Professor Bernhard von Stengel Professor Bernhard von Stengel | Game theory is the 'science of interaction'. This talk will explain some insights of game theory and apply them to current politics. Of course politicians play games. They offer cheap promises that they think they don't have to fulfil. Such as a "simple" in-out referendum on EU membership. That game plan went wrong. Game theory could have helped, with tools for thinking ahead and concepts of strategy. Game theory can also help explain the incentive problems of climate change and reasons for democratic deadlock. This talk will highlight some uses and mis-uses of game theory and decision theory with examples from politics. Bernhard von Stengel (@bvonstengel) is Professor of Mathematics at the London School of Economics which he joined in 1998, after studies in Germany and the USA. He is a former Vice President for Communications of the Game Theory Society, scientific chair of their 5th World Congress in 2016, and currently Deputy Head (Research) of the LSE Department of Mathematics. His research is on mathematical and computational questions of game theory. Jan van den Heuvel (@JanvadeHe) is Head of the Department of Mathematics at LSE. The Department of Mathematics (@LSEMaths) is internationally recognised for its teaching and research in the fields of discrete mathematics, game theory, financial mathematics and operations research. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEGameTheory

Speaker(s): Gordon Brown, Professor John Sexton | John Sexton argues that a secular dogmatism has come to dominate political discourse, and the enterprise of thought is in danger. He then argues that our universities, the stewards of thought, are the last best hope to stem this tide of dogmatism, and that they can effect reform in the society around them by inculcating the values of secular ecumenism in their citizens and by sending those citizens forth, one generation after another, to carry those values into society. John Sexton served as fifteenth President of New York University from 2002 through 2015. He is NYU’s Benjamin F. Butler Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus of the Law School. Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, President Emeritus Sexton also serves on the board of the Institute of International Education and is past Chair of the American Council on Education. In 2015, he received the TIAA-CREF Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence, recognizing outstanding university presidents, and the Institute of International Education’s Duggan Award for Mutual Understanding. In Spring 2016 he held the Kluge Chair in American Law and Governance at the Library of Congress. He is the recipient of twenty-one honorary degrees. Before coming to NYU, President Emeritus Sexton clerked at the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals. From 1966-1975, he was a Professor of Religion at Saint Francis College in Brooklyn. President Sexton received a Bachelor’s degree in history, a Master’s degree in comparative religion, and a PhD in the history of American religion, all from Fordham University. He received a law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. His latest book is Standing for Reason: The University in a Dogmatic Age, the introduction for which was written by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. To pre-order a copy of Standing for Reason: The University in a Dogmatic Age, which can be collected from independent bookshop Pages of Hackney at the event, please go to Standing for Reason: The University in a Dogmatic Age. Gordon Brown (@OfficeGSBrown) is the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007, making him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history. Gordon served as the Labour Member of Parliament for Dunfermline East (1983- 2005), and for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (2005-2015) in his home area of Fife in Scotland. He was elected as Leader of the Labour Party serving from 2007-2010. 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 Twitter hashtag for this event is #LSEReason