The Irish Economy

The Developmental Origins of Health Conference

Keynote Address by Professor James J Heckman

9.00 am-3.30 pm Thursday 10^th October 2013

Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, No 6, Kildare St, Dublin 2

On Thursday October 10^th, 2013, UCD Geary Institute will host a conference entitledThe Developmental Origins of Health. This conference presents the mid-term results emerging from a major European Research Council Advanced Investigator project led by Professor James Heckman at the University College Dublin, in partnership with the University of Bristol and the University of Essex.

Understanding the origins and the evolution of health inequalities is key to developing policies to promote human development. The conference highlights the work of aninterdisciplinary team of researchers who are active at the frontier of their disciplines ineconomics and epidemiology. This team is working together to create an integrated developmental approach to health which will allow us to understand the socio-biological determinants of health.  The conference presents innovative findings on the role of cognition, personality, genes, and the environment on health across the life course and across generations. Speakers will include Professor Frank Windmeijer(University of Bristol), Dr. Neil Davies (University of Bristol), Professor Steve Pudney (University of Essex), Dr. Orla Doyle (University College Dublin). The keynote address will be given by Professor James Heckman (University College Dublin & University of Chicago).

To register for the conference, please email: Carol Ellis atgeary@ucd.ie. Advance registration is essential for attendance at the conference, as numbers are strictly limited. There is no charge for the conference. Tea/Coffee and lunch will be provided.The deadline for registration is Friday 20 September 2013. For further details see UCD Geary Institute Website

I had posted on this a number of times but just a brief note to say the Irish Society of New Economists event is on today and tomorrow. This year the organising team is from NUI Maynooth, specifically Anita Suurlaht, Lena Golubovskaja and Adele Whelan. They have put together a remarkable programme. Congratulations to them.

The sixth annual one day conference on Economics and Psychology will be held on November 25th in NUI Maynooth. The purpose of these sessions is to develop the link between Economics, Psychology and cognate disciplines in Ireland. A special theme of these events is the implications of behavioural economics for public policy though we welcome submissions across all areas of intersection of Economics and Psychology. We welcome submissions from PhD students as well as faculty and also welcome suggestions for sessions on policy and industry relevance of behavioural economics. Programmes from the previous five are here. Abstracts (200-500 words) should be submitted before September 30th. Suggestions or questions please send to Liam.Delaney@stir.ac.uk

There is currently an active debate in the US about the use of ’eminent domain’ powers by municipalities to achieve debt writedowns on mortgages – a New York Fed article on this topic is here.

Jamie Smyth writes on the lreland/UK cigarette smuggling phenomenon in today’s FT Analysis page.