VoxTalks Economics

The EU's increasingly complex system of fiscal rules should be replaced by a system of fiscal standards instead, Olivier Blanchard tells Tim Phillips. You can watch the recording of Olivier presenting his paper on Fiscal Standards for Europe at the 72nd Economic Policy Journal Panel Meeting here The full paper, Redesigning the EU Fiscal Rules: From Rules to Standards by Olivier Blanchard, Alvaro Leandro and Jeromin Zettelmeyer, can be downloaded here

In 2003 Brazil enacted strict gun control legislation. Rodrigo Schneider tells Tim Phillips about the effects on crime and homicide, and whether we can assume there would be a similar impact in other countries. Find more about Rodrigo's paper Crime and political effects of a right-to-carry ban in Brazil , presented at the 72nd Economic Policy Panel Meeting

How well does campaign finance work, and which political parties benefit most? Julia Cagé tells Tim Phillips how the price of a vote has varied in recent British and French elections.

How much did nepotism in Europe's ancient universities hold back progress? David De La Croix tells Tim Phillips about his fascinating research into the emergence of modern science.

Seven hundred years ago the worst pandemic in history killed almost half the population of Europe and the Middle East. Mark Koyama tells Tim Phillips about the centuries-long economic impact of the Black Death.

Some ethnic groups are active in African politics, and some are not. Valeria Rueda tells Tim Phillips the fascinating story of how two socioeconomic revolutions more than a century ago shaped post-colonial political power.

Another week, another tech merger, but this time with huge potential implications for who owns our health data and how it is used. Cristina Caffarra and Greg Crawford tell Tim Phillips why 17 economists have written a paper describing harm that Google's acquisition of Fitbit would cause to consumers. Download Policy Insight 107, or read about it at VoxEU.

Academic economists need to be published, but is the journal system fair and efficient? Sebastian Galiani and Ugo Panizza tell Tim Phillips about a new free VoxEU ebook that tackles racism in publishing, whether you should be judged by your citations, and the tyranny of the top five.  Download Publishing and measuring success in economics.

In a crisis, do we get nostalgic about music? Timothy Yeung tells Tim Phillips about Spotify data that suggests we look for comfort by seeking out songs we know. Read the research in Covid Economics.

In the UK, public transport use has remained low after lockdown - but car use is almost back to pre-pandemic levels. What does this mean for a sustainable transport policy? David Newbery tell Tim Phillips how we could tax and incentivise ways to get around after the pandemic.