When private insurance buys faster access to public care
Supplemental private health insurance is becoming more common in universal healthcare systems as a way to secure faster access to specialists, diagnostics, and elective care.
Increasing employment in pre-retirement years slows cognitive decline
Dementia affects an estimated 6 million Americans. This column uses data from the Health and Retirement Study spanning 1996-2018 to assess the impact of employment
Why some digital payment systems replace cash and others don’t
Digital payment systems promise to extend financial services to people underserved by banks, and overcoming barriers to the adoption of such systems is thus central
Why the post-pandemic US immigration surge barely moved inflation
The US experienced a large immigration surge between 2021 and 2024, which coincided with a period of high and then falling inflation. This column shows
Availability, accessibility, affordability of quality food are vital for food security, says FAO
The Director-General emphasised that the “Four Levels of Food” provide a crucial roadmap for enhancing food security. However, he noted that implementation requires systemic coherence.
When privacy protects but excludes: The hidden costs of data restrictions in digital lending
Privacy regulations empower consumers, but they can also cut off credit for the populations that digital lenders were built to serve. Using application-level data on
Electoral systems and immigration policies
Immigration has become one of the most salient issues in political debate. This column uses evidence from Italian municipal elections to highlight the role of
Accommodating emerging giants in the global economy
History provides many examples of large changes in the relative economic size of nations. This column examines the impact of rapid economic growth in emerging
A vignette study of work from home and attitudes to household work
Work from home has boomed since the Covid pandemic. This column uses a vignette experiment to explore how working from home links to gendered attitudes
Health adversity weakens support for fairer healthcare
People’s quality of life is directly affected by policy decisions about access to healthcare and funding, making it increasingly important to understand how the public
