Fri 21st May - Judges or Juries?

This week, Lucie will introduce a discussion on how economics might help us favour a particular judicial structure. Points of debate include the pros and cons of the jury trial system; the relative merits of judge's rulings vis-à-vis jury decisions; and whether judges should be elected or appointed.

Some background reading:

• The problem with judges : http://personal.lse.ac.uk/levyg1/judgerand.pdf
• Some empirical evidence on the differences between the systems : http://legal1.cit.cornell.edu/articles/h77clr1124_1177.pdf and http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/380412
• The system of trial by jury in England may be under threat : http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jun/18/criminal-trial-without-jury
• Should judges be elected? http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/0002828042002606

As usual we meet on Friday 6pm in STICERD common area.

Fri 14th May - The Economics of Trading Votes

This week, Konrad will introduce a discussion on the economics of contractual arrangements for vote-buying and trading.


Background readings:

* R.H.Coase. “The Problem of Social Cost”. http://www.jstor.org/stable/724810


As usual we will meet in STICERD at 6pm this evening.

Fri 7th May - Nuclear Proliferation: Why Is Iran Different?

This week, Dan will introduce the very rich discussion about nuclear power and the case of Iran:

The west has been recently freaking out about the prospect of a nuclear Iran. The past few years have seen a number of new nuclear states (India, Pakistan, North Korea), which haven’t caused all the much concern. The US doesn’t seem to care that it’s ally Israel has a not-so-secret nuclear weapons program, and the US even signed a special nuclear cooperation agreement with India, even though they are not part of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. So why is Iran causing so much concern? What will happen if Iran gets the bomb?

Other questions: Do all countries have a moral right to get nuclear weapons? Can the west actually stop anyone who wants to get them? Should someone bomb their nuclear facilities? Will Iran nuke someone if they have the chance?

Background readings:

• An overview from the New York Times
• Discussion of whether a nuclear Iran is a problem
• Some arguments for bombing Iran

As usual we will meet in STICERD at 6pm this evening.

Fri 30th April - Was Britain right to introduce televised debates?

This Friday, Nathan will open the discussion on the impact of Britain's decision to introduce televised debates between candidates on the quality of the political debate.

A few background readings:

• Shrott (1990) on the electoral consequences of winning a televised debate
• Blais & Boyer (1996) on the impact of televised debates on electoral outcomes
• Shrott and Lanoue (1992) on How to win a televised debate: is it really about good looks?
  
• Jon Snow blogging about the danger of a beauty contest

As usual we will meet in STICERD common area at 6pm. See you there!

Fri 19th March - How can we justify the inheritance tax?

In this week's Happy Hour, Oliver will inquire whether we can find justifications for the inheritance tax, a question recently debated in the UK general election campaign, taking it into a wider reflexion about filiation, merit and social mobility.

Please have a look at the background readings:

• A political analysis of the Conservatives' proposal to increase the inheritance tax threshold
  
• Thomas Piketty on the "Long run evolution of inheritance in France"
  
• Gordon Tullock in a justification of inheritance
  
• John Stuart Mill on the principles that should guide inheritance laws
  
• Some background on current UK inheritance tax legislation and on the debts left by a defunct
  

As usual, we will meet at 6pm over drinks and nibbles in STICERD common area.

Fri 12th March - Women's reservation in the Indian Parliament

This week, Prakarsh will introduce the question of women's reservation in the Indian Parliament. What does it change? Is it beneficial? What level should we have?

A few suggested background readings:

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8557237.stm
• Chattopadhyay and Duflo (2004)
• Ban and Rao (2008)

As usual we meet on Friday 6pm in STICERD common area.

Fri 5th March - From Alaska to Ethiopia: is it right for countries to sell their land?

In this week's EOPP Happy Hour, Philippe will start the discussion on whether countries should be authorised to sell their land., and the problem of land-grabbing by foreign interests.
Further readings here:

• Website on the "land grab": http://farmlandgrab.org/
• David Barker: "Was Alaska a good deal?"

We will meet as usual in STICERD common area at 6pm.