Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures - International Terrorism: Causes and Consequences

Speaker: Prof Alan B. Krueger, Princeton University

Date: February 21, 22 and 23 at 6.00 pm
Venue: Old Theatre, LSE, Old Building, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

NEW: Listen to an interview with Alan Krueger.

With the end of the Cold War, combating terrorism is emerging as a major priority of Western governments. Waging an intelligent war on terrorism requires an understanding of the motivation of terrorists, data to evaluate terrorist activity and assess threats, and a framework for measuring success. These lectures will summarize research on the economics of terrorism and “randomly targeted acts of violence” more generally.

Tuesday 21 February:

Defining and Measuring Terrorism; Micro-econometric Evidence

This lecture will define terrorism and present micro-econometric evidence on participation in terrorist and related activities. A special focus will be on the backgrounds of terrorists compared with the relevant population at large. The lecture will also analyze public opinion as it relates to terrorist activities.

Wednesday 22 February:

Macro-Econometric Evidence.

Terrorists are not drawn disproportionately from the ranks of the economically disadvantaged. Still, economic conditions may affect support for terrorist causes because of national or regional economic conditions. Cross-country evidence on the origins and targets of terrorism will be presented, focusing on the effects of income, political freedoms, education, proximity, religion, and other factors.

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Thursday 23 February: Consequences of Terrorism

This lecture will present a broad analysis of the consequences of terrorism. It will put the threat of harm from terrorist activities in comparative perspective, and review evidence on the economic consequences of terrorism for the economy as a whole and for specific industries.

Alan B. Krueger is the Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. He is also the founding director of the Princeton University Survey Research Centre and a regular contributor to the New York Times Economic Scene column . He has written widely on the economics of education, hate crimes, income distribution, labour demand, environmental economics and societal well-being.