Analysis

Free market capitalism has fallen into disrepute. Even the British Conservative party is blaming the financial crisis on unfettered markets. Jamie Whyte thinks they are wrong.

Obama’s foreign policy: has the Nobel peace prize-winning President been as hawkish as his predecessor?

A health gap exists in Britain: people in the wealthiest parts of the country, live on average more than a decade longer than those in the poorest parts. An academic discipline which tries to work out why this health gap exists has also grown. It’s called social epidemiology. Its findings have influenced governments all around the world. But not economists. They look at the same data and see something completely different. David Aaronovitch interviews the most prominent social epidemiologist, Professor Sir Michael Marmot, and hears the arguments against his science. Producer: Ruth Alexander

How politically rational are you? What are your views on global warming, nanotechnology or the value of IQ tests - and are they based on scientific evidence or cognitive bias? Michael Blastland talks to top international thinkers including Dan Kahan and Jonathan Haidt about our remarkable ability not to let the facts get in the way of deeply held belief.

Why obey the law? Is there anything wrong with going through a red light at 3am in the morning if nobody is around? Does the law have any moral force? Questions for this edition of The Philosopher's Arms.

Fuzzy logic and baldness: what's the connection? According to the Sorites' Paradox, it's impossible to go bald. If you lose one hair you don't move from being hirsute to being bald: one hair can't make any difference - and the same must be true if you lose a second hair, then a third... So it seems that nobody can ever go bald. That's the paradox addressed, with the help of some fuzzy logic, in this edition of The Philosopher's Arms.

Imagine a perfect art fake. A fake Van Gogh that is completely indistinguishable from the original. Does that mean it’s of equal value to the original? Find out in this edition of The Philosopher’s Arms.

Personal Identity is a topic that’s long intrigued philosophers. What makes you you? What makes you the same person today that you were as a child? The puzzle addressed in The Philosopher’s Arms, with some assistance from the pop group, The Drifters

Should Britain stay in the European Union? With the crisis continuing in the eurozone, recent polls suggest that the vast majority of the British electorate would be in favour of a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union. Evan Davis chairs a debate at the London School of Economics, and is joined by Sir Stephen Wall. The former diplomat and EU adviser to Tony Blair argues his position for Britain to remain in the EU against a panel which wants Britain out.

China's politburo experiencing an internal power struggle. It is about ideological more than personal rivalry. Mukul Devichand visits the People's Republic to investigate this battle of ideas.

Paper money versus gold backed currencies. Simon Jack asks if our financial system would be more stable if money was pegged to gold rather than created at the touch of a button by private and central banks

Disintegration or superstate? As the crisis deepens in the Eurozone, Chris Bowlby imagines the EU's future. What will happen to borders, cash movements and political power?

The "Swedish model" of welfare was once a left wing obsession. Now it's a Tory one too. Jo Fidgen investigates the truth about Sweden's welfare state and its lessons for Britain.

School leavers struggled to find work even in the boom years. Paul Johnson of the IFS asks why employers have become so unwilling to take on young people

Newsnight Economics Editor Paul Mason interviews the controversial economist Steve Keen before an audience at the LSE. Keen was one of the few who predicted the 2008 crash.