The fourth one day conference on Economics and Psychology will be held in the UCD Geary Institute on November 25th. The purpose of these sessions is to develop the link between Economics, Psychology and cognate disciplines in Ireland. A special theme of this year’s event will be the implications of behavioural economics for public policy. Abstracts (200-500 words) should be submitted before August 31st to Liam.Delaney@ucd.ie. Selected papers will feature in a special issue of the ESR policy section. Those wishing to have their paper considered should submit a draft before the November 25th session. Final drafts will be submitted for external peer review in January 2012.
Category: Environment
The Dublin Kapuscinski Lecture – ‘Climate Change and Development’ on 31st May 2011 at 1700-1900 in the UCD John Hume Global Ireland Institute. R.S.V.P. to Jean.Brennan@ucd.ie
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/development/services/events/kapuscinski,
The series is named after Ryszard Kapuscinski, a Polish reporter and writer who was a “Voice of the Poor” in his famous reportages and books covering the developing world. The lecture series is organized jointly by the European Commission, the United Nations Development Programme and partner universities, in this case TCD and UCD. Ms Barbara Nolan, Director of the European Commission’s Representation in Ireland will open the Dublin Kapuscinski Lecture 2011 on ‘Climate Change and Development’.
Professor Dirk Messner, German Development Institute, will deliver the keynote lecture. “The global development panorama is changing dramatically. The challenges of security and poverty are more interwoven than ever before. Yet, two thirds of the global poor people are now living in middle income countries like China, India and Brazil. What does this new global poverty map imply for European development policies? Development trends are also embedded in an overall global development challenge: – climate change. The world needs to learn to decouple wealth creation from burning fossil fuels. A great transformation to a global low carbon economy is necessary during the decades to come in order to avoid major and dangerous changes in the Earths system. What do these global shifts imply for Europe s role in the world? Europe needs to define its global interests. And it needs to be part of a global governance strategy to shape global development trends.”
A panel discussion will follow, chaired by Prof. Patrick Paul Walsh (UCD Chair of International Development Studies). Panellists include Francis Jacobs, (Head of the European Parliament Office in Ireland), Cliona Sharkey, (Trócaire, Environmental Justice Policy Officer), Tara Shine, (Head of Research and Development, Mary Robinson Climate Justice Foundation, Joseph K.Assan, (TCD-UCD MDP Lecturer in Development Practice) and Frank Convery , (UCD Earth Sciences Institute).
The lecture series offers citizens of the European Union an unprecedented opportunity to learn and discuss development, and issues related to development cooperation.
The OECD has launched a new index with the aim of facilitating comparisons of the quality of life across countries. You can find the country summaries here.
Ireland does quite well in the rankings, although the usual caveat about using GDP in an Irish context applies. Moreover, the data used are mostly from 2008 and we have undoubtedly slipped towards the relegation zone since then.
In its latest Quarterly Bulletin, the BIS clarifies what can and cannot be learned from its data. You can read the note here.
A useful explanation of QE is available here.