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

Wage Stagnation and Populism: A Comment on David Brooks and Noah Smith
Times have changed. Now we have David Brooks, of The New York Times, and economics blogger Noah Smith defending neoliberal globalization from the pincer movement of anti-trade populists from both the right and the left.

Trade in the Time of Trump
Trump ran in both 2016 and 2024 on a promise to reverse the deindustrialization caused by globalization and free trade, using tariffs as his main tool. But the critical question now is: Can it work?

Explosive New Book Argues Facebook Is a Global Engine of Harm and Corruption. Is Reform Possible?
Sara Wynn-Williams, defying Facebook’s attempts to silence her, reveals the company’s toxic culture and global damage, exposing unethical practices and a profit-at-any-cost approach. The key question she leaves us with: How can this be changed?

How Diversity and Pluralism Build Knowledge: The Case of Economics
If there is no universally accepted outside authority to tell us how to judge theories then knowledge is only going to progress by means of debate

The Origins of the Modern Era of the Federal Reserve
Fifty years ago the actions of the Federal Reserve mattered. Today, so far as the aggregate measures of the American domestic economy go, they do not.

Time to Stop Rolling Dice: Why Bigger is Better in Climate Investments
Earlier investments make large-scale emission reductions easier to do over time because their unit costs drop

INET Research and the 2024 Election
Ever since 2016, INET researchers confirmed the significance of economic issues in Trump’s ascendency.
What Is a “Fair” Drug Price?

Elon Musk and Tesla Shape America’s Future. But Problems Run Deeper Than Tweets.
The financialization of U.S. firms making critical products endangers both American global leadership and, in Tesla’s case, climate change progress.

Musk and Tesla: Corporate Compensation, Financialization, and the Problem of Strategic Control
From the perspective of innovative enterprise, we ask how Musk might abuse his power of strategic control—and what that would mean for corporate governance reform.

How Do Tech Innovations Really Spread? New Evidence
New technologies appear to yield long-lasting benefits for the pioneer locations where they were originally developed.