Confusopoly unveiled: How firms use complexity to raise prices
Can entire markets strategically confuse consumers to raise prices? This column tracks the prices of nearly all mobile phone tariffs and handsets in the UK
Trump’s tariffs as fiscal folly
In 2025, the US government underwent a large fiscal switch, with Congress enacting large income tax cuts and the second Trump administration putting new tariffs
How the United States is eating Trump’s tariffs
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said tariffs accounted for perhaps 30-40 basis points of the latest core inflation reading of 2.9% but the effect should be
U.S. China trade tensions send Aussie sliding 1%, boost safe havens
Aussie slides as investors flock to safe-havens, yen strenghtens. The Australian dollar tumbled on Tuesday, while the safe-haven Swiss franc and Japanese yen strengthened as
Dollar dominance and the Trump administration
There is general agreement that a currency’s safe-haven status can be gauged by its response to changes in financial volatility. This column documents how, in
Trumpian tariffs are import substitution industrialization 2.0
The new Trumpian tariffs are not the familiar protectionism G7 nations have applied for decades. Instead of shielding particular sectors, they wall off the entire
The (non) effect of tariffs on manufacturing employment
The two most prominent arguments President Trump has advanced for his trade war – both during the early months of his second term, and for
Industrial policy and retaliatory protection under the WTO: Lessons from China
Industrial policy is increasingly implemented worldwide, with many policymakers and researchers highlighting its benefits. However, the cost of industrial policy remains less understood. Using Chinese
European stocks fall, dollar steady, traders wait for Jackson Hole
Euro zone business activity expanded in August, PMIs show. European stock markets fell slightly in early trading on Thursday, hovering just below recent highs, as
How Donald Trump should have tackled the US trade deficit
The US trade deficits will have to be reduced materially to prevent a crisis down the road. This column argues that fiscal consolidation, in association
