Congratulations to UBS Foundation Professor Hans-Joachim Voth and co-author Bruno Caprettini (University of St. Gallen) on receiving the Diligentia Prize for Empirical Research for their paper New Deal, New Patriots: How 1930s Government Spending Boosted Patriotism During World War II.

Each year, the Diligentia Foundation honors outstanding empirical and experimental research that has produced innovative results for socially relevant issues. Awards are given for scientific publications by individual authors or teams of authors in the form of articles in recognized, international journals.

Steven Pinker (Harvard University) is considered to be one of the most influential thinkers of our time. How does he assess the state of democracies today? Since he is best known for his counterintuitive take on the state of the world, he probably has a different view than most experts, who see democracy under threat. Join us on 7 November for his public lecture at the University of Zurich. Register now.

Speaking to journalist Alex Blasdel from The Guardian, Pinker nevertheless voiced concerns. He did so while holding in his hands a piece of the Berlin Wall that his father had brought from a business trip he took to Germany in 1989. “Whatever happened to good old liberalism?” Pinker asked. “Who’s going to actually step in and defend the idea that incremental improvements fed by knowledge, fed by expanding equality, fed by liberal democracy, are a good thing? Where are the demonstrations, where are the people pumping their fists for liberal democracy? Who’s going to actually say something good about it?”

In the latest edition of our Nobel Opinions series, Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz explains why he is pessimistic about the development of the European economy and that the financial crisis will cause inequality to continue to grow.

Congratulations to UBS Foundation Professor David Dorn for receiving the German Economic Association's most prestigious academic prize, the Hermann-Heinrich-Gossen award. It is conferred annually to the best economist under age 45 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Verein für Socialpolitik-chairman Prof. Regina T. Riphahn announces:

"David Dorn's empirical work has always been of the highest quality. It has not only contributed significantly to research, but also had a lasting impact on social debates on both sides of the Atlantic."

Dorn joins the impressive list of previous winners, bringing it back to the Department after UBS Foundation Professor Florian Scheuer (2021) and Ernst Fehr, Director of the UBS Center (1999).

“You can unlearn democracy”, said Nobel laureate Herta Müller in a recent interview. The accomplished writer and winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature will open our annual Forum for Economic Dialogue on November 13 with a keynote on Democracies under threat. Register now.

Müller was born in Romania in 1953, studied Romanian and German literature, and later worked as a translator in a machine factory. Because she refused to spy on her colleagues for the Romanian secret service, she lost her job and became a target of the Securitate herself. In 1987, Herta Müller came to West Germany, where she was unable to shake off Romania’s communist regime for a long time. The persistent presence of persecution is reflected in her numerous award-winning publications.

Rarely does one have the opportunity to experience such a political figurehead live. We are therefore very much looking forward to Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble's lecture (in German) on October 24 at the University of Zurich. Register now.

Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble is a German CDU politician and the longest-serving member of the German Bundestag. He has influenced Germany’s politics in numerous high-ranking offices during his time in office, starting in 1972. Among other things, Schäuble led the negotiations for reunification on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany. For his work, he was repeatedly awarded prestigious prizes and honors, such as the Konrad Adenauer Peace Prize in 1998.