Briferendum Series

Two big flaws in the Economists for Brexit plan

Jun 14, 2016 08:47 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

There are numerous studies showing the economic costs of Brexit and the weight of academic opinion backs these estimates. But the Vote Leave campaign does have a small group of economists who claim that the UK can be...

Future of Coal Series

Is coal the only way to deal with energy poverty in developing economies?

Jun 14, 2016 08:30 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature Economy

As the world moves to combat climate change, its increasingly doubtful that coal will continue to be a viable energy source, because of its high greenhouse gas emissions. But coal played a vital role in the Industrial...

Vital Signs Series

Vital Signs: central bankers longing for growth that may not come

Jun 10, 2016 09:20 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy Central Banks

Vital Signs is a weekly economic wrap from UNSW economics professor and Harvard PhD Richard Holden (@profholden). Vital Signs aims to contextualise weekly economic events and cut through the noise of the data impacting...

Flat-earth economists lead the hysteria over budget deficits

Jun 09, 2016 08:55 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Back in the good old days of the 19th century when market economies oscillated between boom and prolonged recession, economists believed that nations were like households. They had to balance their budgets. If they spent...

U.S. Jobs report: Slowdown or structural saturation?

Jun 07, 2016 08:40 am UTC| Commentary Economy

Last weeks job report showed headline gains of just 38,000 and Dollar immediately went for a large correction. According to market participants, June hike went off the table. The market pushed back rate hike expectations...

Does government spending on education promote economic growth?

Jun 03, 2016 08:24 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Economic growth is driven by new ideas, by discoveries that result in better products and more efficient production technologies. Human capital is the engine of this process: a better educated labour force increases the...

Briferendum Series

Forget Brexit – austerity is far worse for the UK economy

Jun 03, 2016 08:15 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The weight of opinion holds that leaving the European Union would be costly for Britain. The latest forecast, from the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies, predicts that austerity measures such as cuts in public...