The WTO has noted that trade scepticism among policymakers and trade policy tensions over supply chains are manifesting themselves in even more fragmented and concentrated supply chains. This column develops a model to show how trade policy uncertainty deters the investment needed to facilitate integration into global value chains, and demonstrates how WTO agreements, by […]
The global COVID-19 vaccination campaign was the largest public health campaign in history, with over 2 billion people fully vaccinated within the first eight months. Despite one of the most widespread pharmaceutical interventions, the benefit of this campaign on all-cause mortality is not well understood and still debatable. This column documents the enormous health and […]
Authorities in Beijing shut some highways on Wednesday after heavier-than-expected snowfall hit the Chinese capital, part of a cold spell sweeping many parts of the country this week. With freezing rain and snow expected to last until Monday, officials boosted public transport arrangements in the sprawling city of nearly 22 million and shut eight highways, […]
HSBC Holdings reported a record annual profit, that nonetheless came in below analysts’ forecasts as the income boost from higher interest rates was offset by a hefty $3 billion charge from its stake in a Chinese bank. HSBC, which has a market value of $160 billion, reported on Wednesday a pretax profit of $30.3 billion for […]
Ford Motor Co on Tuesday said it had cut prices on its Mustang Mach-E electric SUV by up to $8,100 after sales fell sharply in January. The No. 2 U.S. automaker’s lowest-price 2023 model year Mach E version now has a suggested retail price of $39,895, down from $42,995. The higher-end Mach-E GT spec will […]
On 18 October 2023, following the conclusion of its “investigation phase”, the ECB’s Governing Council announced a specification of the functional scope and key features of a digital euro and also decided to proceed with the “preparation phase” of the project. This column focuses on the debate around the impact of a digital euro on […]
Cross-border patenting is a key channel for the international transfer of technologies. Using a new dataset that tracks patents within and between countries and industries, this column examines the influence of technology transfers on development and income inequality. Policy and globalisation have a positive impact on cross-border patent flows, especially from rich to poor countries: […]
Land prices, as reflected in house prices relative to incomes, are near all-time records, pricing younger citizens out of home-ownership and affordable rents. This column argues that a green land value tax – a charge on the land plus a charge on the house minus a discount related to efficiency of the building’s energy usage […]
The use of historical data for economic analysis has been on the rise in recent decades. Persistence studies in particular have been essential in developing our understanding of how historical factors can contribute to present-day economic and social outcomes. In this literature, maps are often a key source of historical data. For example, many papers in the […]
Each year, the US Circuit Courts of Appeals consider thousands of appeals on the rulings of federal district courts. This column examines whether the identity of the politicians that appoint judges to these courts can help predict outcomes in these cases. Based on more than 650,000 circuit court cases from 1985 to 2020, the author […]
