The inaugural London School of Economics (LSE)- NUS Public Lecture was hosted by FASS on March 25^th with Professor Stuart Corbridge, Pro-Director of the LSE, delivering his lecture on ‘Good and Bad Inequalities: Or, When and Why Did India Take Off and Who Has Benefitted?’

Prof Corbridge is a specialist in development studies with a particular focus on the eastern states of India. In this ‘broad brush-strokes’ lecture he connected the remarkable overall growth story of India with the persistently high levels of poverty and inequality experienced, in particular, in many east Indian states. Various theoretical models for India’s growth were explored with a theory of ‘elite revolt’ emerging as the most satisfactory explanation. This concept suggests that the deep drivers of growth were due to a sustained series of initiatives at the government and state level which encouraged the elite business community (and later markets) to both abide by and circumvent the law (such as through bribery) to create conditions ripe for growth. These conditions allowed some reform to take place, but mostly within the realm of elite politics. These are the ‘good inequalities’ of the lecture title.

The ‘bad inequalities’ are more structured along class, ethnicity, gender, and caste and are the barriers towards equitable growth. These inequalities mean South Asia suffers from an elasticity of poverty that is not as efficient related to GDP growth as other global regions for lifting the poor out of poverty. The changes made at the federal (state) level have largely benefitted the western richer states exacerbating a form of ‘provincial Darwinism’ whereby the eastern states suffer little investment or economic growth. However, the domain of mass national-level politics, regarding agriculture, governance and power remains unreformed and this is where India’s future prospects for growth lie.

In conclusion, Prof Corbridge professed himself generally optimistic for continuing growth in India but also predicted continuing difficulties in negotiating political reform and even violent political struggles due to the pro-Maoist presence in the many eastern states which suffer from the undersupply of public goods and an endemic political vacuum.

Prof Corbridge’s lecture was part of his broader mission to strengthen ties between the LSE and NUS.

CLaSIC 2010, the Centre for Language Studies (CLS) International Conference, began today bringing together nearly 200 participants from the Asia-Pacific, Middle-East, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Conference Chair Dr Izumi Walker welcomed the many language researchers and practitioners for the three day conference focusing on ‘Individual Characterisitcs and Subjective Variables in Language Learning.’

Participants arriving for the conference

The guest of honour was the FASS’ own Dean, Professor Brenda Yeoh who spoke on the ability of language to build bridges and open windows in our increasingly cosmopolitan world.

The CLS was commended for its commitment to both active research and teaching which together provide a strong academic platform for this 4th biennial conference.

The first of four keynote lectures was delivered by Professor Richard Schmidt of the Department of Second Language Studies, University of Hawaii who revisited his original ‘Noticing Hypothesis’ with particular attention given to learner characteristics such as aptitiutde, motivation and language learning history.

The three day conference continues at the Orchard Hotel until Saturday 4th December.

On October 19th, Prof Barry Eichengreen, George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley delivered his second public lecture as the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Term Professor in Economics and Finance at the Department of Economics, NUS.

Prof Eichengreen made some late changes to his talk, changing the title to “The Long-term consequences of the Financial Crisis: What we know, what we don’t, and what we can learn from the 1930s.”

This new title reflected what Prof Eichengreen believes is the need for economists to adopt a more singular approach to the crisis given how the recent crisis has been so deep, global and financially-pervasive. Economists have been quick to judge the causes and short-term consequences of the crisis but analysis of potential long-term consequences has been scant, resulting in a high degree of uncertainty as to whether or not future growth will be permanently imparied by the crisis. The lecture was followed by a vibrant and wide-ranging Q&A session.