#AcademicRunPlaylist - 5/20/24

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Boston, so of course I got out in between calls for a decent run and listen to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was a thought-provoking talk by Jeffrey Friedman and Richard Zeckhauser on probability assessment and national security decision making at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. This gets deep into the statistical and psychological challenges of communicating probabilities in decision making situations, applicable well beyond national security https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3C0F55dKNk

Next was a great panel on reforming competition law in the EU at the UCL Faculty of Laws with Inge Bernaets, Kati Cseres, Anna Gerbrandy, Simon Holmes, Despoina (Deni) Mantzari, Stavros Makris, and Florian Wagner-von Papp. This is a grand tour of the state of EU competition scholarship, with deep insight on the purpose of competition law, the role of economics, and some reflection on past missteps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYBYh1QESgE

Next was a fantastic talk by Thomas Philippon on increasing concentration in the US economy and the decline in innovation investment at the Paris School of Economics. Philippon systematically goes through different analytical approaches and hypotheses for these trends over recent decades, with implications for improvements to antitrust policy and its importance for a healthy economy. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glLgUfdUU80

Next was a fascinating symposium on markets, consumers, competition, and innovation at Stanford Law School with talks by Jared Lucky (consumer protection efforts in Massachusetts pre/post Independence), Naomi Lamoreaux (innovation in the patent office's handling of priority), Laura Phillips Sawyer (antitrust law and the meanings of market power) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DNydJoZnsY

Next was an excellent panel on memory in humans and animals with Nicola Clayton, Felipe De Brigard, and Johannes Mahr at the LSE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJui7f_8eaw

Last was an engaging panel on network science with Linda Argote, Scott Poole, and Ambuj Singh at the SONIC Research Group https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoRpdUlW8Uk