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The 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics is awarded to: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson "for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity", 14 Oct 24:

The trio from MIT and Unuv Chicago provided an explanation for why some countries are rich and others poor. One important explanation is persistent differences in societal institutions. By examining the various political and economic systems introduced by European colonizers, they have been able to demonstrate a relationship between institutions and prosperity


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:Painful policy choices loom after China's 'monumental' consumer stimulus plan, Reuters, 30 Sep 24 [via Y Finance]:

China's stimulus plans to fill consumer pockets to meet its 2024 growth target breaks away from a decades-old policy playbook, but making household demand a sustainable driver of development instead of investment is a long path paved with tough choices


The Hague to Ban Fossil Fuel Ads, Agence France-Presse, 13 Sep 24 [via France 24]:

The Dutch city of The Hague has become the 1st in the world to pass local laws banning advertisements for fossil fuels, petrol cars and long-distance air travel, officials said. The administrative city of over 500,000 residents adopted the groundbreaking local legislation which comes into effect on 01 Jan

• Lawrence & Tingley: The Populism of Self-Destruction: How Better Policy can Blunt the Anti-Clean Energy Backlash, Harvard Univ, May '24

Emerging Markets on the Global Stage, Finance & Development, by Aslam & Brooks, Sep/Nov '24:

In 1981, an enterprising employee at the Intl Finance Corp, Antoine van Agtmael, devised the term "emerging market" to drum up interest in a new equity fund of 10 up-and-coming developing economies. This label - evoking dynamism, potential, and promise - stuck. However, many emerging markets are outgrowing both the term and the stereotype




Nobel Laureates and Former Presidents Slam Lack of Fossil Fuel Mention in UN Pact Draft, CSO Futures, 14 Aug 24:

A group of 77 former world leaders and Nobel laureates have shared in an open letter their "grave concern" about the removal of any mention of fossil fuels in the latest draft of the UN Pact for the Future, intended for the coming UN Summit of the Future in New York at the end of Sep

• An Open Letter from Global Leaders and Nobel Laureates, 13 Aug

Obstfeld: America's Deficit Attention Disorder, Project Syndicate, 07 Aug 24 [via Jamaica Gleaner]:

Trump is making a big mistake by obsessing over the trade deficit. Worse, his preferred corrective – wide-ranging import tariffs – would damage the US and world economies, all while diverting attention from the US deficit that does matter, that neither political party wants to talk about, writes Peterson Inst senior fellow 


Blanchard: The Perfect Storm -- Deglobalization's Headwinds, AXA IM Investment Inst, July '24:

Globalization - the rising interconnection of the world's economies and populations, driven by intl trade in tech, services, goods as well as the flow of investment and info - is facing at least five different headwinds. The correct econ answer cannot be an absolutist defense of free trade, writes Peterson Inst senior fellow 




Pethokoukis: What Kind of Economy Will the Next US President Inherit?, Amer Enterp Inst (blog), 26 Jul 24:

Policy decisions will matter, both next year and beyond. Nothing should be taken for granted. Tariffs, immigration restrictions, and unchecked spending could spoil the bullish outlook, just as more science investment, more foreign talent, and less anti-growth regulation could support it, writes Inst senior fellow

• "This Just Isn't Going to Add Up": Experts Warn Trumponomics Would Hurt US, Guardian, 15 Jul 24

• Strain: The Economic World We've Lost, Project Syndicate, 10 Jun 24 [via Amer Enterp Inst (blog)]

Curtright: 'Circular' Economic Development Projects Could Build Common Ground, RAND (blog), 24 May 24:

A 'circular economy' is one that reuses products and materials--through recycling, upcycling, or repurposing--to reduce waste, to use less water and energy, and to extract fewer resources from the earth, writes RAND senior scientist with a focus on energy/environment




16 Nobel Prize-winning Economists Warn That Trump's Economic Plans Could Reignite Inflation, CBS News, 25 Jun 24:

"Many Americans are concerned about inflation, which has come down remarkably fast. There is rightly a worry that Trump will reignite this inflation, with his fiscally irresponsible budgets," says a letter signed by 16 of the world's most notable economists, who include Columbia U's Joseph Stiglitz and Yale U's Robert Shiller. See full text of letter

• Piereson: The Nobel Laureates Strike Out, City Journal, 26 Jun

Emerging Threats to Financial Markets, RAND (blog), May '24:

In 2021, a freethinking group of investors on Reddit decided to plow their money into GameStop, a video game retailer that several big hedge funds had bet against. The stock price shot up. Hollywood turned this all into comedy with the 2023 movie Dumb Money. But researchers at RAND also saw the story as a cautionary tale


Juhasz and Lane: A New Economics of Industrial Policy, Finance & Development, Jun/Aug '24:

Once relegated to the junk heap of econ ideas by mainstream policymakers, industrial policies, or state actions to change the composition of econ activity, are making a comeback, write U British Columbia and Oxford U economists / cofounders of the Industrial Policy Group

• China's EV Success Story Built on Price Wars, Tesla Factor, Bloomberg News, 27 June [via Y Finance]

Rogoff: The End of Magical Debt Thinking, Project Syndicate, 30 Apr 24 [courtesy fa-mag.com]:

Until recently, any suggestion of fiscal prudence was quickly dismissed as "austerity" by economists on the left. But with higher interest rates fast becoming the new normal, the idea that any econ problem can be solved with more govt borrowing has become untenable, writes Harvard economist


Hulbert: The Stock Market Has Already Chosen a Winner in the 2024 US Presidential Election, MarketWatch, 25 May 24 [via Morningstar]:

The US stock market is one of the best predictors of whether the incumbent party will win a presidential election. That's important to know because of the widely mixed messages of the electronic prediction markets, writes Hulbert Ratings publisher, which tracks investment newsletters that pay a flat fee to be audited


Johan Rockstrom Wins 'Environmental Nobel Prize' for Identifying the Boundaries of Earth's Life-Support, WSJ, 29 Feb 24:

The Swedish scientist has won the Tyler Prize -- often called the environmental Nobel Prize -- for his research on the limits of the life-support systems that have helped keep the earth climate relatively stable over the past 11,700 years

• Johan Rockstrom Is One of The 100 Most Influential People of 2023, TIME, Jan '24

• Rockstrom and Robinson: We Need To Stop Gambling With Our Planet -- and Our Well-being -- Now, context.org, Oct '23

Explainer: Plastic Pollution Is Surging, So What Are Governments Doing?, Context.news, 22 Apr 24:

Govts are meeting in Canada this week for the next round of global talks over a treaty to end plastic pollution. Producing plastics generates large amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, while the accumulation of plastic products in the environment pollutes lands and oceans

• Editorial: UN Plastics Treaty -- Don't Let Lobbyists Drown Out Researchers, Nature, 17 Apr

• International Experts Issue Renewed Call for Global Plastics Treaty to be Grounded in Robust Science, Univ Plymouth, 18 Apr

Woods: The IMF Chose the Right Leader the Wrong Way, Project Syndicate, 25 Apr 24 [via FMT Malaysia & blogspot.com]:

In addition to creating an obvious conflict of interest, the European-dominated process of selecting the Fund's head has become a major obstacle to the institution's mission. Though the one selected is a good pick, that is just a happy coincidence, and an overhaul is urgently needed, writes Univ Oxford sch govt dean


On the Brink -- Catalyzing Support for the Country's National Bird Could Stem Its Rapid Decline, Finance & Development, Dec '23:

The note's design and security features won it the International Banknote Society's 2022 "Banknote of the Year" award, and it is the first in the country to be printed on polymer. The new note features the national bird to highlight the importance of the preservation of this endangered species 





Yeo: Invoking National Security Against US Allies Weakens National Security, Peterson Inst (blog), 22 Mar 24:

Would the purchase of US Steel by an innovative steel producing powerhouse based in a country that is a close US ally damage US national security or disrupt supply chains? The election year furor over the Nippon Steel deal may be a harbinger of misguided national security decision-making, writes Inst senior fellow

• Biden says it's 'vital' US Steel remain American owned and operated, CNN, 14 Mar

The Economics of Autocratic Legalism, Amer Economic Assn News, by T Smith, Sep '23:

How do modern autocracies immiserate their populace to satisfy the elite? When historians write about despotic govts of the past, revolutions and violent crackdowns take center stage. 'Autocratic legalism' refers to the hiding of authoritarian designs in legitimate legal frameworks


Eichengreen: The Temptation of Frontier Markets, Project Syndicate, 13 Mar 24 [courtesy Financial Advisor Mag]:

Frontier markets are back. Several African countries have recently returned to global financial markets, owing largely to improved macroeconomic performance, placing foreign-currency bonds with international investors,. But at least two dangers loom on the horizon, writes UCalif-Berkeley economist

Blame the Fed's Inflation Fighting for Why Americans Are Miserable About the Economy, according to Larry Summers (and a bunch of other top economists), Fortune, by I Ivanova, 28 Feb 24 [via Aol]:

Despite historically low unemployment, strong hiring, and gradually cooling inflation, consumers’ mood has remained sour. So why won't consumers get on board with the vibes and admit inflation has fallen? A new working paper by fmr Treas Secy Larry Summers & his co-authors explains why

van Trotsenburg: Economic Development and Collective Security Are Two Sides of the Same Coin, World Bank (blog), 16 Feb 24:

There can be no lasting peace – and therefore no collective security – without sustainable progress towards prosperity. This simple idea inspired the Marshall Plan, one of the most far-reaching initiatives of the last century and remains relevan today, writes WB senior managing dir



The US Project Meant To Debut Revolutionary Nuclear Reactors Just Fell Apart, HuffPost, by A Kaufman, Nov '23:

The nuclear startup, NuScale, had planned to build its 1st small modular reactors in Idaho, with more than $1 bil from the US govt. Not anymore. The project meant to debut the technology that would spur a renaissance of atomic power construction, collapsed amid mounting financial troubles

Qureshi: Thinking About Inequality – A Review of: Visions of Inequality (2023), by Branko Milanovic, Finance & Development, Dec '23:

This new book by a leading scholar of inequality chronicles the way the economics discipline has viewed and analyzed inequality from the French Revolution to the end of the Cold War. It distills the writings of six of the most influential economists of that time, writes Brookings Inst senior fellow




Barrett, Kaufman, Stiglitz: How to Enforce Climate Agreements with Trade Measures, Project Syndicate, 28 Jan 24 [via Daily Star/ Bangladesh]:
Rather than focusing so much on intl conferences that require unanimous support, we should be directing our energies toward negotiating agreements in narrow, but crucial, econ sectors, write Columbia U’s Climate Sch prof; Ctr Glob Energy Policy senior scholar; and 2001 Nobel Laureate



Rodrik: Confronting Our Four Biggest Economic Challenges, Project Syndicate, 24 Jan 24 [via Diplomati Courier]:
We face four big challenges: the climate transition, the good-jobs problem, faltering development strategies, and the breakdown of globalization as we know it. To address each, we must leave behind established modes of thinking, writes Harvard economist / Intl Economic Association pres



Spence, Madgavkar, Smit: Action on Planet and People Depends on Growth, Project Syndicate, Sep '23 [via McKinsey]:
Mobilizing the investment needed to complete the net-zero transition will require broad public backing and participation. Given that people living in poverty are less likely to support climate action, simultaneous efforts to improve living standards are essential, write 2001 Nobel Laureate; McK Glob Inst partner; and McK Glob Inst chair

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