SPP Connections Newsletter - End of Michaelmas 2022

It's been wonderful to see so many of our alumni back on campus this term. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our alumni events, including:

Executive Drinks Reception - a reception for Executive Program alumni and students to meet and welcome our new EMPA and EMPP students to the beginning of their programme.
The Alumni Angle: Learning From Each Other's Backgrounds - alumni volunteers presented about their various areas of expertise in this interactive discussion event designed to tap into our community's knowledge and experience.
SPP Speed-Dating - speed-dating with a professional slant!
and our annual SPP Festive Drinks, held this year for both students and alumni.

We also held a new alumni career Q&A panel series, open to all students and alumni and covering everything from working in consultancy and government to job searching and utilising internships. We hope they were helpful to all who attended, and we really appreciate the advice given by all our alumni panellists.

SPP Ask An Alum Mentoring Programme

We are delighted to announce the official launch of Ask An Alum: a student support programme designed to match students with alumni mentor volunteers for a series of meetings throughout the academic year. Our alumni are encouraged to provide professional advice, share their own experiences, and generally act as a sounding board.

It's been incredibly exciting to match 90 alumni and students this term for the pilot of the scheme, and we hope many productive conversations transpire as a result of the programme. If any of our alumni are interested in finding out more or signing up to be a mentor next academic year, please email spp.alumni@lse.ac.uk.

This coming Lent Term we will be continuing our alumni career panel series, What I Wish I'd Known. As always, we'd love to hear from alumni who are happy to share their experiences to fellow alumni and students as part of the panel - if you feel you can speak on any of the below subjects, please get in touch.

Working in International Organisations - Wednesday 15th February, 1-2PM GMT
Working in Finance - Monday 27th February, 12-1PM GMT
Working in Impact and Sustainability - Wednesday 15th March, 1-2PM GMT

If you would like to join any of the panels, please email spp.alumni@lse.ac.uk.

The SPP Womxn’s Network is still interested in hearing from SPP alumni who are interested in participating in their panel discussions discussing gender within specific industries. The network is also seeking to host professional skills workshops whereby members of the network can attend a 45-60 minute session and learn practical workplace skills (eg around women and leadership, negotiating fair salaries, or overcoming inequity in the workplace).

If you are interested in participating or know of any relevant professional skills workshops or resources please get in contact with Samantha Piller (s.heigl@lse.ac.uk).

Meet Phoebe Yung

Meet our Alumnus in Action, Phoebe Yung, who completed her MPA as part of a joint degree with Columbia University in 2014. Having come to the SPP as an aspiring economist, Phoebe then combined her skills learned at the MPA with her love for dogs in founding her own tech start-up. DoggyDay is a platform that connects those who need dog-sitters with their dog-loving neighbours.

You can read Phoebe's story here.

Do you know an alumnus whose story should be shared with the SPP community? It could be a friend, a colleague, someone whose work you admire from afar - it could even be yourself! Drop us a line to recommend the next alumni profile.

Alumni Benefits in the Spotlight

Are you a recent graduate? LSE's First Five programme is a dedicated programme of support specifically aimed at recent graduates. Wherever you are, you can find bespoke opportunities to create professional connections and maximise your potential.

Find out more here.

SPP launches new degree: MPA in Data Science for Public Policy

LSE School of Public Policy is pleased to be launching our new MPA in Data Science for Public Policy (MPA DSPP) degree programme, which will train the next generation of policymakers to harness cutting edge quantitative tools and programming skills to design and implement better public policies in the 21^st century.

Students will gain a foundational knowledge of economics and rigorous political science training alongside a comprehensive skill set to understand date. They will then apply these skills to a real-world policy problem via a Capstone Project with an external client.

The two-year programme is an ideal choice for students with a passion for policy and public administration who are equally passionate about data, programming and developing the skills to tackle the challenges of the digital age. We look forward to welcoming our first class of MPA DSPP students to our growing SPP community in September 2023.

Applications are open now - find out more online.

LSE-Fudan Global Public Policy Hub

The LSE-Fudan Global Public Policy Hub is a joint centre for research, collaboration and activities between the LSE and Fudan University in Shanghai. The Hub supports collaborative research on global public policy, fosters multi-disciplinary cooperation and enhances communication between Fudan and LSE to generate research of global impact. The Hub continues to hold monthly seminars on “China and the World” which bring together leading academics to discuss issues of public policy research across China and other countries.

In 2022 the Hub held a launch event on China in the Post-Covid world, an Annual Conference of the LSE and Fudan Universities, several seminars and a book launch reception for one of its research fellows.

You can watch the recording of China and the World in the Post-COVID Era online here.

The President of the Mexican Bankers' Association visits the SPP

In Michaelmas Term we hosted a breakfast for our Mexican students, in which the guest of honour was the President of the Asociación de Bancos de México, Daniel Becker. A great time was had by all, and our guest was even able to pose for a quick picture ( right).

Vanessa Rubio Márquez's new role

We are delighted to share that Associate Dean for Extended Education Professor Vanessa Rubio-Márquez has recently become a Member of the Freedom and Prosperity Advisory Council of the Council of the Americas in Washington, DC. Congratulations on this new role, Vanessa!

Publications and News

Emerging Europe's chronic distrust: Lessons from the region's COVID puzzle

The Unbearable Uselessness of Crypto

A new book, co-edited by Professor Előd Takáts and Professor Piroska Nagy Mohacsi (LSE Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa) has been published recently. The book, titled Emerging Europe's chronic distrust: Lessons from the region's COVID puzzle, looks at the impact of COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Central and Eastern Europe.

Find out more

Following the collapse of FTX, in his latest opinion piece for Project Syndicate, Dean Professor Andrés Velasco examines the reality of the crypto industry: arguing that in the fourteen years since Bitcoin appeared, the crypto industry has failed to produce anything of value.

Read Online

'Reclaiming Populism' Book Review

Veneco Podcast - Asylum and Refugee Systems in Latin America

Professor Vanessa Rubio-Márquez has written a review for ' Reclaiming Populism: How Economic Fairness Can Win Back Disenchanted Voters' by Eric Protzer & Paul Summerville: a book examining why populism continues to take hold in the world.

Read Online

Dr Omar Hammoud Gallego has been featured as a guest on the Veneco Podcas (covering analysis on democracy, social movements, human rights, and more in Venezuela), in which he reflects on the history of asylum and refugee systems in Latin America and the Venezuelan migration crisis.

Listen Online

You can read more publications from the SPP community on our News page.

SPP Public Events and Podcasts

The 2022 SPP Annual Lecture featured a conversation between Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief of The Economist, and Dean Professor Andrés Velasco on the subject of the future of liberalism. The discussion investigated the tenants of liberalism, the space for liberalism in the face of far-right politics, liberalism and climate change, liberalism and the post-pandemic increase in regulation by state(s), and the liberal principles of debate.

You can watch a recording of the event or access the podcast for this event here.

Michaelmas Term 2022-23

Chip War - the battle to control semi-conductors

Monday 24 October

Speaker: Dr Chris Miller, Associate Professor of International History, The Fletcher School.

In this event Chris Miller discussed his new book, Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology - a description of the decades-long battle to control what has emerged as the world’s most critical resource (semiconductor technology) with the West and China increasingly in conflict.

Listen to the podcast

The Global Trading System in Crisis

Wednesday 16 November

Speakers: Professor Dani Rodrik, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Ignacio Garcia Bercero, Director of Multilateral Affairs, Strategy and Economic Analysis, European Commission; Professor Michael Pettis, Professor of Finance, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University.

This event saw panellists discuss main problems, core reform priorities to reshape the policies, institutions, laws and norms that are required for stable and inclusive trading system and which political obstacles this reform process faces.

Watch the recording.

The UK's 2022 Autumn Economic Crisis: Why did it happen and what next?

Tuesday 1 November

Speakers: Professor Sir Charles Bean, Professor of Economics at LSE; Professor Alexander Evans, Professor in Practice at the School of Public Policy; Stephanie Flanders, Senior Executive Editor for Economics at Bloomberg; Gene Frieda, Senior Visiting Fellow at the School of Public Policy.

This event covered the UK financial crisis triggered in the autumn of 2022, asking how could an advanced democracy, with sophisticated expertise and deep historical knowledge, deliver such a remarkable policy failure? What are the lessons for future policy makers around the world?

Watch the recording.

How to be a Politician: in conversation with Vince Cable

Tuesday 15 November

Speaker: Sir Vince Cable, Professor in Practice, School of Public Policy at LSE.

In this event Sir Vince Cable discussed his new book, How to be a Politician: 2,000 Years of Good (and Bad) Advice, with Dean of the SPP Andrés Velasco.

Watch the recording.

Thank You for Supporting the SPP

Support from alumni and friends enables us to form a strong and ambitious education community, and is very much appreciated by everyone at the SPP. Whether that be donating financially or through donating your time by volunteering with student support, you are helping us keep the SPP a truly fantastic place to learn.

A particular thanks to everyone who donates financially, either to the SPP or to the wider LSE. Your support helps us do wonderful things for our student community, and we are thrilled to offer an outstanding policy education experience to those who come to our School - everyone at the SPP really appreciates your kindness.

If you are interested in supporting us or would like to find out more, contact us at spp.alumni@lse.ac.uk or visit our website.