Can We Avoid the Next Financial Crisis?
Dr Steve Keen

Dr Steve Keen, awardee of the Revere Award by the Real World Economics Review for being the economist who most cogently warned of the crisis, is giving a talk on Wednesday 24 January about how ever–rising levels of private debt make another financial crisis almost inevitable unless politicians tackle the real dynamics causing financial instability. Come to event to hear about whether we can avoid the next financial crisis, ′The Walking Dead of Debt′, and why Australia, Belgium, China, Canada and South Korea are those that are next in line for a potential financial meltdown.

Happiness and Wellbeing​

Have you ever wondered how to measure happiness? Is it at all possible to make objective statements about a notion like wellbeing or is it too elusive? Can we increase wellbeing by working more, or maybe by doing the exact the opposite and bringing about Keynes’ dream of a 15 hour week?

Everyone cares about happiness and wellbeing (at the very least their own), but what is science’s take on the topic? Come to CSEP’s panel discussion to find out how three different disciplines - philosophy of science, economics, and sociology - approach this timeless theme. Listen to three exceptional speakers and go home happier than you arrived!

Our speakers for the night will be:

Dr. Anna Alexandrova
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, particularly interested in the philosophy of economics and psychology as well as the measurement of happiness and well-being.

Dr. Brendan Burchell
Reader in the Social Sciences, Sociology Researcher at the University of Cambridge, especially interested in how much work could optimize wellbeing and what the labour market might look like in 20 years with machine learning and robots replacing human labour.

Dr Paul Frijters - Co-Director of the Wellbeing Programme at LSE and Project Director of the World Wellbeing Panel, with a main area of interest is in analyzing how socio-economic variables affect human life satisfaction.

Professor Asaria on Islamic Finance

Islamic Finance is one of the fastest growing sectors in the financial world. Between 2000 and 2016, the capital of Islamic banks grew from just $200 billion to $3 trillion (with this figure expected to reach $4 trillion by the early 2020s), at an annual sector growth rate of
19.7 percent. The sector, complying with Islamic law, is governed by a set of rules which seek to promote spiritual and societal needs alongside the individual and the materialistic. Included amongst this framework of rules are the requirement for a property tax (zakat), the avoidance of uncertainty-based transactions (which includes certain conventional insurance products), and, notably, the prohibition of interest (riba).

Professor Asaria is one of the leading authorities on the subject. He was a member of the working party set up by the Governor of The Bank of England to look into issues relating to the introduction of Islamic financial products in the UK, and, since 2005, has been Special Advisor on Business and Economic Affairs to the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain. He currently teaches post graduate courses in Islamic Finance, Banking and Insurance at several leading universities, and, for the last eight years, has been the convenor of the annual International Takaful Summit which evaluates current models for the provision of Islamic Insurance services.

Credit and Crisis: From Marx to Minsky

Professor Toporowski has worked in fund management, international banking, central banking and financial and economic consultancy. His insight into both the private and public sector has allowed him to publish widely in the areas of financial crises, the political economy of finance and the finance sector in general.

On Wednesday the 21st of February, Professor Toporowski will speak on “Credit and Crisis: From Marx to Minsky”. He will take us on what promises to be an extremely interesting journey: From Marx over Keynes and Veblen to Minsky. In his talk he will consider the ways in which each of them has treated the structural shift in capitalism that occurred due to the generalised availability of long term finance. One of his conclusions will be that the key distinction in economic theory is between those who recognise the central role of long-term finance in the capitalist economy, and those theorists for whom finance is merely ‘savings’ or another form of credit.

The talk will draw upon the following paper https://www.elgaronline.com/view/journals/roke/5-4/roke.2017.04.07.xml, but a more detailed discussion can be found on Crédito y Crisis de Marx a Minsky (2016). Mexico City: Facultad de Economía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México & Miguel Ángel Porrúa; Kredyt i Kryzys of Marksa do Minskiego (2018). Warszawa: Ksiazka i Prasa).

This event will be co-hosted with the Joan-Robinson Society, the Economic Society at Girton College and would not have been possible without Carolina Alves, the Joan Robinson Research Fellow in Heterodox Economics at Girton College.

Behavioral Economics: On Emotions, Self-Control, and Heuristics

Want to learn how to use Behavioral Economics in your degree?

Morality, Loss, Emotion, Intention, Failure, Self Control!! Behavioral Economics pivots economic theory towards humanity.

This is a talk about the many, many insights these new theories have provided , how they challenge our textbook understanding 
(especially if you are an economist) and will introduce you to the machinery with which to use them in your research.

Please welcome Professor Sanjit Dhami, behavioral economist (Leicester University), and author of the "Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis”, the most comprehensive (and entertaining) introduction to the field, covering decision theory, game theory, social learning, altruism, morality, emotion, behavioral finance, welfare, and neuroeconomics. 

His research currently mixes theory and experiments to investigate the role of emotions in public good games. In the past he has worked on an eclectic range of questions from how other-regarding preferences influence redistribution policy, the optimal taxation policy under prospect theory, on punishment and inter-temporal choice, and heuristics in game theory.