Articles

Articles and analyses from the INET community on the key economic questions of our time.

Article

Mass Incarceration’s Dangerous New Equilibrium

Jun 22, 2017

A new model probes why the US leads the world in jailing and imprisoning people, and what it will take to reverse course

Article

Political Conflict and Economic Pluralism in Brazil

May 2, 2017

The reaction to repressive political conditions that prevailed in Brazil during the 1970s helped to produce a commitment to diversity and tolerance among Brazilian economists.

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A Public Comment on the SEC Pay Ratio Disclosure Rule

Mar 29, 2017

In this comment, we explain our objections to the SEC’s current formulation of the Pay Ratio Disclosure Rule on each of three grounds: the erroneous estimation of CEO pay; the unclear specification of the “median” worker; and the risk of normalizing a pay ratio that is far too high. Then we present the latest data on the remuneration of the 500 highest-paid CEOs in the United States, demonstrating the way in which the SEC’s measure of CEO pay that enters into the CEO-to-median-worker pay ratio tends to systematically underestimate actual executive pay.

Article

China's Wage Growth: How Fast Is the Gain and What Does It Mean?

Feb 28, 2017

New findings show that hourly wage-rates in China are higher than in middle-income countries and are approaching the levels of Greece and Portugal

Article

Can “It” Happen Again? Defining the Battlefield for a Theoretical Revolution in Economics

Feb 27, 2017

As part of our “Experts on Trial Series”, Antonella Palumbo argues for stripping away ‘scientific’ shibboleths that mask social and political choices

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'People Have Had Enough of Experts'

Feb 6, 2017

As part of our ongoing symposium “Experts on Trial”, Professor Sheila Dow argues that if voters have grown contemptuous of economists’ expertise, that’s because economics has been misrepresented as a technical subject separate from politics and moral judgments

Article

Is Inequality a Political Choice?

Feb 3, 2017

Research by INET-affiliated scholars shows the US lags far behind its peers on inclusive growth, suggesting inequality is not an inevitable consequence of globalization and technology

Article

Ferguson: Monetary Policy Can't Levitate a Broken Economy

Jan 9, 2017

As part of an International Economy symposium, INET Research Director Tom Ferguson assessed the challenge facing central bankers through the lens of the missing virtues of Dorothy’s travel companions in the Wizard of Oz