• The role of institutions in shaping economic and climate outcomes

    This month, the International Monetary Fund released its revised World Economic Outlook for 2020.  It is worth taking a look through their current release, which although describing a dire forecast for 2020 is actually significantly improved on its expectations from … Continued

  • Regulating Big Tech

    Christos sent along a recent blog post he recently wrote with other leading European economists on the Google-Fitbit deal as the topic for this week’s discussion since we will be covering competition policy in both TP1 and TP2 (and will … Continued

  • From scientific evidence to information warfare

    Do facts and scientific evidence matter in policymaking?  For those of us with a strong belief in the scientific process, the answer seems like it should self-evidently be ‘yes’. But the situation is not always so clear — there are … Continued

  • Do prizes work?

    On Thursday (8 October), Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and Sir David Attenborough launched a £50m “Earthshot Prize”, which, they claim to be “the biggest environmental award ever”, and which, they hope, will become the equivalent of a “Nobel … Continued

  • What should a modern Industrial Policy look like?

    Christos has suggested this week’s topic: Do we need an “Industrial policy” in the 21st century and if so, what are the instrument that should be employed? Back in 2004, Dani Rodrik starts his excellent piece on the need for … Continued

  • Ethics and technology

    Famously, Google’s unofficial motto was ‘Don’t Be Evil’ (sometimes misdescribed as ‘Do no evil’) but any such corporate claim will inevitably lead to tensions since corporations, especially those that span the globe with a professed interest in having an impact … Continued