VoxTalks Economics

How big are Covid-19's economic consequences? That's the theme of a new VoxEU book with contributions from many of the world's most experienced policymakers with expertise in this area. Beatrice Weder di Mauro and Richard Baldwin, the book's editors, give Tim Phillips the (mostly) bad news. Download the book : it's free.

Women are under-represented in economics, and the situation is not improving. Economists Shelly Lundberg, Donna Ginther, Jenna Stearns and Erin Hengel talk to Tim Phillips about VoxEU's new book on the subject that examines the barriers that women face in the profession, and also suggests ways to support the next generation of female economists. Download the book here , it's free.

In the last decade, global digital giants have snapped up hundreds of smaller, innovative companies. Should competition authorities have intervened more often? Tomaso Duso tells Tim Phillips about new research that suggests they should.

A century ago, American nativists succeeded in establishing immigration quotas to drive up the wages of US workers. What happened next? Not what you might think, Leah Boustan tells Tim Phillips.

New research shows how a school-building programme in Indonesia successfully reduced conflict. Dominic Rohner tells Tim Phillips about this unanticipated peace dividend, and how the CEPR's research and policy network on conflict reduction will help policymakers.

Is regional inequality a problem that central banks should worry about? Andy Haldane of the Bank of England tells Tim Phillips why he thanks the answer is yes: but why we also need to think about what, and how, we measure.

Why are cities so keen to create their own technology clusters, and why is it so difficult? Bill Kerr of Harvard Business School tells Tim Phillips what economists know (and don't know) about where tech clusters come from.

An experiment in Haiti shows that people take more risks in the presence of religious images, even if there is less chance they will win. Emmanuelle Auriol tells Tim Phillips about the challenges that belief in a higher power presents for economic development.

When the industries that have sustained our cities decline, how can we regenerate urban areas? At the SUERF conference in Amsterdam, Tony Venables and Charles Goodhart tell Tim Phillips that redevelopment policies may have made regional inequality and social conflict worse.

In 2020, the UK and the EU will try to strike a post-Brexit deal in financial services. At the SUERF conference in Amsterdam, David Miles and Iain Begg explain to Tim Phillips what's at stake in the negotiations, and who would suffer most if there's no deal.

This year's Nobel prize celebrated the work of the economists who popularised randomised controlled trials, “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”. But is it possible to have too much of a good thing? Tim Phillips investigates. Picture © Nobel Media 2019. Illustration: Niklas Elmehed.

New research demonstrates what we all suspected: for decades, politicians have routinely used busy news days to bury unpopular announcements. Ruben Durante educates Tim Phillips in the politics of distraction.

Language skills for preschoolers help them achieve more when they get to school, but some parents are better than others at helping their kids to develop these skills. Denis Fougère and Carlo Barone tell Tim Phillips about a successful experiment in Paris to help less-educated parents spend time reading with their children.

Few countries tax their citizens' wealth annually, but Switzerland is one of them. Marius Brülhart tells Tim Phillips about a natural experiment in Switzerland's cantons that teaches us about how people would respond if more countries decided to tax wealth instead of income.

The mobile internet, promises to give us access to information anywhere, 24 hours a day. So how has it influenced trust in governments, politics, and politicians? Sergei Guriev tells Tim Phillips about how, all over the world, 3G has reduced trust in government and aided the rise of populism. 

We think about climate policies as moderating or interceding in markets.  But a new paper implies that when stock markets play a bigger part in the economy, polluting industries become cleaner. Tim Phillips asks Ralph De Haas of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development whether we already have a green finance initiative under our noses.

When there's a financial crisis, policymakers and politicians increasingly kowtow to the demands of an influential group: the global middle class. Jeffrey Chwieroth and Andrew Walter tell Tim Phillips how their Great Expectations are destabilising the world economy. Read about Great Expectations at VoxEU.

Doing a good job of deciding who can borrow is fundamental for the global economy. Stefania Albanesi tells Tim Phillips that current consumer credit ratings do a poor job at predicting which of us will default, and explains how she has used machine learning to improve them.

When the law changed to allow same-sex partners to get married, did the symbolism of marriage have any effect on the stability of relationships? Shuai Chen tells Tim Phillips about a surprising result from The Netherlands.

How much is spent on end-of-life care, and who foots the bill? Eric French of UCL tells Tim Phillips about the total cost of the last year of our lives, and how different countries have very different ideas of who should pay it. Read about the research at VoxEU.org , and download the VoxEU book about the economics of ageing.

The Royal Economic Society has launched Discover Economics , an ambitious three-year campaign to attract more women, minority students and students from state schools to study the subject. Sarah Smith and Arun Advani, co-chairs of the campaign, plus Rachel Griffith, RES president, tell Tim Phillips about how they plan to make this happen. Read about Discover Economics at VoxEU .

We are living longer, and that affects every part of our economic future. David Bloom is the editor of a new VoxEU book on what he calls "the what, the so what, and the now what" of ageing. He tells Tim Phillips about some of the policy choices our societies will have to make in the near future.

Economists date the growth of London's financial system, and its impact on the British economy, from the end of the 17th century. Nathan Sussman tells Tim Phillips how how he discovered contemporary records that tell a different story.

Patrick Honohan took over as governor of the Central Bank of Ireland in 2009 with the economy in meltdown, and steered it through its deepest crisis. His new book re-examines what happened, and lessons for future crises. Tim Phillips talks to Patrick and the FT 's Martin Sandbu about what policymakers and central bankers can learn from Ireland's ordeal. Read about Patrick's book at VoxEU.org . Pic...

On 24 September the CEPR launches the latest Geneva Report on the world economy, called Banking disrupted? Financial intermediation in an era of transformational technology . Tim Phillips asks Tara Rice and Kathryn Petralia, two of the authors, whether fintechs and cryptocurrencies signal the beginning of the end for banks. Download the report , or read about it at VoxEU .