VoxTalks Economics

If we are less equal, is that good or bad news for economic growth? Reto Foellmi reviewed the research, and he has some answers for Tim Phillips. 

The problem of fake firms that issue fake receipts so that clients can claim fraudulent tax deductions is widespread but hard to stop, and it’s costing governments everywhere billions in lost revenues. Dave Donaldson and Dina Pomeranz talk to Tim Phillips about how the tax authority in Ecuador recouped lost revenues.

As intelligent autonomous machines become better at doing all our jobs, will there be enough work and income to go around? If only some of us work, who will that be, and what happens to the rest of us? Anton Korinek talks to Tim Phillips.

During the Covid-19 pandemic governments had to take unpopular measures to restrict our freedoms, and we had to choose whether we did what we were told. Were governments in countries with free media more likely to act – and were their citizens more likely to comply? Tim Besley and Sacha Dray talk to Tim Phillips about their new research.

When pension giant ABP faced protests about its fossil fuel investment strategy, did it choose to exert pressure on oil companies or divest from them? Jeff Wurgler and Dirk Schoenmaker talk to Tim Phillips about how the finance sector can accelerate a green transition.

Opposition to a carbon tax was at the root of the gilets jaunes protests in France. Did the protestors think the tax wouldn’t work, or that it wasn’t fair, or that they would personally lose out? Adrien Fabre talks to Tim Phillips about the link between tax and trust in government.

When aid donors are distracted by domestic concerns, do aid recipients take advantage to suppress political opposition? Data from Africa suggest that they do, Dominic Rohner tells Tim Phillips. Photo: Alisdare Hickson.

Global real rates are stuck at a low level, and until recently policy rates everywhere were effectively zero. Can we use historical data to explain why this happened, and to predict whether we will be back at the ZLB when inflation falls? Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas and Ricardo Reis talk to Tim Phillips.

The Covid crisis inspired extraordinary innovation. Carsten Fink and Reinhilde Veugelers are two of the editors of a new ebook from CEPR called Resilience and Ingenuity that examines how countries, organisations and industries were able to innovate. Tim Phillips asks them what worked, what didn’t, and whether we can keep up the pace of new ideas. 

Recorded live at CEPR Paris Symposium 2022: Across Europe and beyond, populist movements have recently flourished. What does history teach us about the economic impact of populism – and is our taste for populists a bug or a feature of democracy? Tim Phillips talks to Moritz Schularick and Massimo Morelli.