VoxTalks Economics

At the CEPR annual Symposium in Paris we sat down with Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a distinguished fellow of CEPR, and a global authority on geopolitics and trade to discuss the profound changes in the multilateral order in 2025, how countries will adjust to this new normal – and whether the changes we have seen will ever be unwound.

Tim Besley, a renowned economist from the London School of Economics, and Andrés Velasco, a former policymaker, dive deep into the challenges facing today's economic landscape. They discuss their ambitious work, The London Consensus, which aims to provide adaptable policy principles rather than one-size-fits-all solutions. The duo highlights the need for well-being beyond GDP, the importance of growth, and the crucial role of state capacity in effective governance. They also caution against simplistic economic paradigms while emphasizing coherent narratives for better policymaking.

Economic sanctions are the big geoeconomic bazooka. But what does history tell us about how well they work, and their relevance today. And does the theory match the data? Moritz Schularick of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and CEPR talks to Tim Phillips about the evidence of the history of sanctions on what they can achieve, whether we expect too much too soon from small sanctions – and whether politicians are prepared to impose the sanctions that bite.

Biodiversity is essential for the wide range of economic activities that our planet needs. Yet, the economic consequences of its global decline are hard to estimate, because most population studies focus on individual species in isolation. Frederik Noack of the University of British Columbia argues that this misses a central insight about biodiversity: a healthy environment depends not just on individual species, but also on the way they work together to keep our natural environment in balance. One especially important aspect of this is the way that birds help keep crops safe from pests and reduce the need for pesticides. He tells Tim Phillips about the long-term decline of bird populations in the US and the knock-on effect on agriculture, and pollution. 

Lucrezia Reichlin, an esteemed economist and expert in corporate reporting, discusses pivotal issues surrounding sustainability reporting and the ISSB initiatives. She delves into the need for standardized corporate disclosure and the challenges posed by differing regulations in the US and Europe. Reichlin also highlights the debate between investor-focused and double materiality approaches, and how emerging markets are embracing sustainability standards. Plus, she examines the impact of these regulations on corporate behavior and the importance of consistent measurement in addressing climate change.

Join economist Sergei Guriev, an expert on the political economy of populism, and political scientist Catherine de Vries, who studies the drivers of populist support. They dive into the rising tide of populism and its implications on climate policy. Explore how economic crises fuel populist narratives and the challenges they pose for democracy and sustainability. They discuss the critical need for clearer communication and inclusive policies to balance climate action with public support, revealing a complex relationship between populism and environmental priorities.

Our economy is embedded in nature, but nature is in danger. External funding is needed, especially in the Global South, to support the conservation of our natural ecosystems. Markets can play a role, but the way in which voluntary carbon markets do this has low public trust which, from recent news, may be deserved. Estelle Cantillon of Université libre de Bruxelles and CEPR tells Tim Phillips about her proposal for a new market mechanism to channel funds to projects that will conserve or restore our natural environment by paying dividends to those who invest. But how will it avoid greenwashing, and who will buy the shares? Read about this in Chapter 8 of the Paris report: https://cepr.org/system/files/publication-files/257653-policy_insight_145_designing_and_scaling_up_nature_based_markets.pdf

“What is needed is non-marginal, transformative change to shift the economy, technology, and society”. That’s the typically forthright recommendation from Rick van der Ploeg of the University of Oxford and University of Amsterdam for how to ensure that climate policy is effective at changing our habits and behaviour. He argues that the gradual changes in habits that current policies target don’t go far enough, and that we run the risk of backsliding. But what does this mean in practice? Rick spoke to Tim Phillips about what policies to push, when to push them – and how big the push needs to be.

Ottmar Edenhofer, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, dives into the crucial role of carbon dioxide removal in climate strategy. He explores various technologies like bioenergy with carbon capture and direct air capture, weighing their costs and effectiveness. Edenhofer discusses the need for regulatory frameworks to ensure the permanence of carbon storage, and outlines how geographical advantages can shape global CDR efforts. He also suggests innovative funding models to incentivize these technologies while warning against the risk of relying on them at the expense of direct emissions reductions.

Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, a renowned economist from the University of Cambridge, discusses his groundbreaking work on biodiversity and natural capital. He shares insights on how humanity is embedded in nature, challenging the notion of separation. Dasgupta highlights the need for economic indicators that value nature and warns about the decline of natural assets. He also tackles complex issues like deforestation, trade-offs in agriculture, and the urgency of addressing biodiversity loss, emphasizing the risks of inaction and the importance of wealth transfers between nations.