Lessons from Denmark’s eight-hour workday reform
In recent years, calls for shorter working weeks have re-emerged in Europe and elsewhere. This column examines how Denmark’s 1919 shift to the eight-hour workday
Gold gains on US interest rate expectations
Investors have their eyes on other news, including ADP U.S. employment data and ISM PMIs this week, for indicators that could alter the Fed’s hawkish
Updating my priors on the effectiveness of wage subsidies in developing countries
In 2017 I published (ungated) a review of active labor market programs in developing countries, in which I concluded that the “accumulated evidence suggests that wage subsidies
Data, power and emissions: How AI’s growth may slow down the green transition
AI and other data-intensive technologies may help optimise energy use, but the technologies themselves are power hungry. This column explores how the diffusion of AI
Insuring labour income shocks: The role of the dynasty
Beyond government and market-based insurance, the family remains a key institution for coping with economic risk. This column uses detailed Norwegian data to study how
Leading firms are falling behind in developing East Asia
For decades, East Asia has been a paragon of economic dynamism. But today, in an era of rapid global technological advances, productivity growth in the
Sustained growth through creative destruction: Nobel laureates Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt
Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have been jointly awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with Joel Mokyr ‘for having explained innovation-driven economic growth’.
US weekly jobless claims decline, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs estimate
Economists estimate weekly jobless claims fell to 217,000 from 235,000. The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell last week, economists at
Hidden growth in US manufacturing productivity
Manufacturing is a locus of innovation, yet standard industry data show manufacturing productivity stagnating in the US. This column argues that standard measurements understate true
How firms respond to import competition: Labour force reduction, product/industry switching, and off-shoring
As global trade has expanded, many studies have documented the level of impact of import competition on employment, but we know less about how firms
