THE 2018 GRAY'S INN READING
It has become the conventional wisdom that the rule of law is a necessary ingredient of economic progress.
Along with an independent judiciary, individual rights, a free media, free association, strong political parties and a rich civil society, government policy asserts that the rule of law is found in all successful countries and sustainable economies, and consequently should be promoted abroad.
After examining this assumption, the lecture will explore how the rule of law contributed to Britain's economic development from the early nineteenth century.

Hon Sir Ross Cranston is a Professor of Law at London School of Economics. He is a former judge of the High Court, Queen’s Bench Division for just over nine years and the judge in charge of the Administrative Court from January 2016. Previously he was Centennial Professor and Cassel Professor of Commercial Law at LSE. He was a Labour MP for Dudley North 1997-2005 and Solicitor General 1998-2001.