How much is education worth, the recession and the US war on drugs will be just some of the areas addressed at a conference hosted by University of Bristol economists tomorrow [2 November] as part of a nationwide Festival highlighting the UK’s leading social science research.
The ‘Future of Economics’ conference, part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, will offer young people considering the subject or a related discipline at University a unique insight into the field. It will explore the tools used to explain the world we live in and its diverse systems, from high-heeled shoes to the stock exchange.
A series of talks, presented by early-career economists, covering issues as diverse as immigration, education, social mobility and game theory, will demonstrate the wide variety of areas that economists work in as well as some exciting emerging fields. These include 'experimental economics', a relatively new, but fast growing area in the field which may offer great insight into the way people behave in a wide variety of situations, and is particularly influential in behavioural economics, an area which blends economics and psychology.
Michael Sanders, Conference Co-ordinator and a PhD student in the University’s Department of Economics, said: “The aim of the event is to provide people interested in the subject with an opportunity to find out how it influences our social, economic and political lives - both now and in the future."
Attendees will have the chance to put their learning to the test by playing an experimental economics game and hear a range of talks. These include a lecture by Nick Langston-Able exploring three UK recessions, the 80s, the 90s and the current downturn, and a talk by Christiern Rose that aims to shed light on why the U.S. 'War on Drugs' has been relatively ineffective in reducing drug abuse.
The Future of Economics conference, hosted by the University of Bristol’s Centre for Market and Public Organisation is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science. The event will be held in the Reception Room of the Wills Memorial Building on Wednesday 2 November 2011. Registration for the event begins at 9.30 am and talks will conclude at 14.30 pm. For more information, or to register to attend, please visit the futureofeconomics website.