Government & Politics

This small interdisciplinary workshop, is organized by the Azim Premji University, Institute for Policy Dialogue and the Institute for New Economic Thinking. The goal of the workshop is to bring together graduate students studying development studies at a sufficiently advanced stage of their dissertation work to be able to discuss and receive feedback on their research.

The YSI Economic Development Working Group will host a series of panels at the annual conference of the Association for Heterodox Economics, with the goal of developing an innovative research program on productive structures, institutions, distribution, and economic development. 

YSI is hosting sessions at the 2018 STOREP conference.

From 28-30 June the Italian Association for the History of Political Economy will be gathering in Genova to ask the question “Whatever has happened to political economy?”.  Before the start of the conference, Rethinking Economics and the YSI Philosophy of Economics Working Group will host a workshop to discuss a related question: “Whatever happened to economics?”. Professor Geoffrey Hodgson will participate in our discussion.

When politics is defined in terms of “populism” vs. “the mainstream,” the possibility for real economic reform is diminished.

70 years ago today, Edward A. Tenenbaum helped pull off an astounding feat—successfully reforming Germany’s currency after World War II

By evading regulation of credit default swaps, the major U.S. banks put taxpayers—and the entire economy—at risk

Converting an Obscure Agency Footnote into an “At Will” Nullification of Dodd-Frank’s Regulation of the Multi-Trillion Dollar Financial Swaps Market

The election of Italy’s right-wing, populist government exposes the economic and democratic shortcomings of the European project and its nationalist rivals

The symposium focuses on the various paradigms of economic and social policy at work in the Scandinavian countries, in light of the most recent macroeconomic developments given by increased inequality, population ageing and automation.

In a complex world, we’ll experience more “black swans”, and the things that standard economic models assumed away will matter much more.

A change in macroeconomic policies will not be sufficient to set Argentina on a path of inclusive and sustained economic development. But, as last month’s currency scare showed, abandoning the approach adopted by President Mauricio Macri’s administration at the end of 2015 is a necessary step.

The World Bank and IMF say developing economies can’t afford to have strong labor laws. Actually, they can’t afford not to.

The removal of term limits for Xi Jinping may be a better indicator of economic health—or crisis—than official statistics

In “celebration” of the late Pete Peterson’s 92nd birthday (see guest list), an excerpt from 19th Century historian Lord Macaulay’s History of England, on hundreds of years of unwarranted panic about government debt.

Labor market regulation is a controversial area of public policy in both developed and developing countries.

Nobel laureate James Buchanan is the intellectual linchpin of the Koch-funded attack on democratic institutions, argues Duke historian Nancy MacLean

A presentation from the panel “Research Evaluation in Economic Theory and Policy Making” at the 2018 G20 Global Solutions Summit in Berlin

Alberto Baccini’s presentation for INET’s panel on research evaluation at the G20 Global Solutions Summit in Berlin, May 2018.

In a memo for the G20, INET calls for changes to the evaluation of economic research to ensure that economic theory—and policy—is more rigorous, innovative, and in service to society. 

Introducing INET’s body of work on dysfunctions in research evaluation, Rob Johnson shows how breaking academic conformity is vital for the economics profession—and the economy itself.

Global public goods, from health to peace to security, crisscross national and social boundaries. We need a new economic theory to understand their pivotal role in the global economy.

It’s time to connect political violence with economic violence.

For the BRICS countries to not just grow their economies but also raise the standard of living of their people, inclusive growth that prioritizes poverty reduction is a must

But the five countries must still support greater investment in other emerging and developing economies

Newspapers consistently underplay wide public support for higher taxes on businesses and the wealthy

Over the last four decades, Americans have consistently told pollsters that they favor higher taxes on business and the wealthy, even as tax policy has moved sharply in the other direction.

The BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—play a crucial and growing role in the world economy. Sanjay Reddy kicks off our series exploring shifting social and economic dynamics within these countries, and what they mean for the global economy.    

The twin threats of right-wing populism and unencumbered financial capitalism pose a crisis for democracy across the world, argues Robert Kuttner in his new book, Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism?

Training first-world children for a third-world life

The renowned linguist, cognitive scientist, and historian on where we stand as an economy, as a country, and as human beings

What 200 Years of Government Interventions in Financial Markets Can Tell Us

Reflections on the Radical Vision of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Last Major Speech

Economist Olugbenga Ajilore shows the high cost of the American government’s arming of local police with military weapons, which has exacerbated lethal use of force against black communities

In the face of  laissez-faire capitalism at home and resurgent nationalism across the globe, INET offers an innovative look at the causes of—and solutions for—the problems that ail a fissuring world economy.

France, like many Western European countries, has strong campaign finance laws and a vibrant multiparty system. Yet even there, money has had a corrosive effect on democracy, as private donations have an outsized impact on electoral outcomes.

Money in politics is not a strictly American phenomenon. In France, despite strong campaign finance laws, campaign donations have a direct influence on legislative and municipal election results.

The African Development Bank has laid out a plan for economic prosperity in the continent. But to get there, African countries must first confront jobless growth and underfunded infrastructure projects.

There’s no turning back from humanity’s move to high-density living, says Ed Glaeser. The task of the century will be making cities more liveable.

The shocking—but illustrative—example of how an Italian government agency concocted statistics to evaluate scholarship, hid them from the public, and masqueraded them as science. It’s a growing phenomenon

How did globalization create such discontent in developed and developing countries alike? Nobel laureate and INET grantee Joseph Stiglitz explains in this 150th episode of our “New Economic Thinking” video series.

It wasn’t Comey or the Russians. Trump prevailed because his campaign carefully targeted key states with late infusions of big money from private equity, casinos, and other far right contributors, a remarkable wave of donations from small donors, and substantial infusions from the candidate himself.

The U.S. presidential election of 2016 featured frontal challenges to the political establishments of both parties and perhaps the most shocking election upset in American history.

Inequality isn’t driven by taxes—it’s driven by the power of capital in relation to workers

Distinguished Scholars Including Larry Summers and Adair Turner Present Evidence of the Trend and Policy Solutions

The World Economic Roundtable seeks to help the business, investment, and policy communities understand ongoing changes in the world economy and to promote a discussion of ideas that can advance the goal of a widely shared global prosperity.

Organized by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) in collaboration with the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), New York, the aim of LEPC 2017 is to bring together legal, economic and public policy thinkers to consider a variety of real world issues in India in a holistic manner.

Are regulatory interventions delayed reactions to market failures or can regulators proactively pre-empt corporate misbehavior?

The Implications of Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative for China and the World Economy

From the Rust Belt to Rural America, Economic and Social Distress Helped Shape the 2016 US Presidential Election Outcome

The 2008 financial crisis was a shock to faith in entirely free financial markets. But the neoliberal assumptions underlying the previously dominant “Washington Consensus” continue to inform much Western commentary on China’s economy.

The Young Scholars Initiative will be hosting a group of young scholars to attend the meetings and discussions in and around UNCTAD International Debt Management Conference of 2017.

The 21 FMM conference of the The Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) will take place in Berlin on 9-11 November 2017.

How Germany, the EU and the economics field itself suffer from myopia—and what we can do about it

The US federal lobbying industry, based in Washington DC, is major focal point for political money and the exercise of influence, with expenditures peaking at approximately $2.5 billion per annum during the first Obama administration. 

Not just an American dilemma: is political money in dual economies the biggest problem of all?

The Death of the Seventy-year American Empire  

As dual economies transform countries, how does world politics adjust?

Coping with the dysfunction of advanced economies, and developing strategies for economic development.

This paper examines the value of connections between German industry and the Nazi movement in early 1933. Drawing on previously unused contemporary sources about management and supervisory board composition and stock returns, we find that one out of seven firms, and a large proportion of the biggest companies, had substantive links with the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Firms supporting the Nazi movement experienced unusually high returns, outperforming unconnected ones by 5% to 8% between January and March 1933. These results are not driven by sectoral composition and are robust to alternative estimators and definitions of affiliation. 

“The Failure of Democracy” – “The weaknesses of Weimar” Do headlines such as these suggest that the whole architecture of the first German republic was wrong, that it was doomed right from the start, that the “collapse” was unavoidable?

Stock Market Returns and Corporate Networks 

A look at how liberal democracies have disintegrated amid economic crises. Speakers: Thomas Ferguson, Tiziana Foresti, Nadia Garbellini, Peter Langer, Joachim Voth, Ariel Wirkierman Discussant: James Kurth Chair: Thomas Ferguson

On 23 June 2016, the British electorate voted to leave the European Union (EU). We analyse vote and turnout shares across 380 local authority areas in the United Kingdom.

Different accounts trace populism to cultural reactions, racial or gender animosity, and/or economics. What does the empirical evidence suggest?

Support for populism is often attributed to xenophobia, racism, sexism; to anger and resentment at immigrants, racial or ethnic minorities, or “uppity” non-traditional women. According to these accounts , people who feel socially resentful may reject established politicians as favoring those “others” over people like themselves, and turn to outsider populistic leaders.

Unpacking the Effect of Trade on Workers and Voters 

A better set of approaches for the 21st century.

The contemporary literature on neoliberalism has grown so large as to be unwieldy. For some on the left, this has presented an occasion to denounce it altogether.

How far are economists implicated in the rise of ‘fake experts’ and ‘fake news’?

Fake news, propaganda, and “expertise”: What has happened to information in the information age?

The Electoral Consequences of Rising Trade Exposure

The Academic and Professional Performance of the Chicago School, 1960-1985

What Do Citations Actually Measure in Economics and How Should Economic Journals and Department Review Committees Use This Data? 

Joseph Stiglitz, Michael Spence and a global team of leading thinkers are calling for new thinking & new rules for the world economy

The current crisis is the culmination of a process of integration that has profoundly changed the structure of each member state, their inter-relations and their power relations. One of its side effects was the rediscovery of the terms ‘centre’ and ‘periphery’ to analyse the economic situations of the European countries.

The euro area has been experiencing a prolonged period of weak economic activity and very low inflation.

The wind appears to be back in the sails of the Eurozone economy ….

Some fresh reflections on ECB policy

Can a monetary union without true banking and fiscal union be saved? What remains of the hopes that animated the Treaty of Rome?

Nicola Sturgeon covers a range of topics including how economists’ work relates to policymaking, the financial crisis and the dangers of groupthink, how dissatisfaction with stagnating wages and rising inequality played into political shocks like Brexit, the legacy of Adam Smith, why new economic thinking is so important, and what her government is doing to foster and apply it. 

INET gathered hundreds of new economic thinkers in Edinburgh to discuss the past, present, and future of the economics profession.

The Festival for New Economic Thinking is a collaborative initiative of several organizations, and aims to bring together those who seek to improve how economics is taught, studied and practiced. 

“Blindly” Engaging in Global Supply Chains Can Erode Developing Nations’ Economic Power

The YSI Economics of Innovation Working Group in partnership with the Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology is hosting a YSI Conference on “Innovation, Institutions and Governance”.

Personal connections are key to understanding concentrations of wealth and power

In this episode of Hidden Forces, host Demetri Kofinas speaks with Robert Johnson, about the political economy, inequality, and the failings of our technocratic institutions.

An examination of some little-known ways nation states and central banks prop up megabanks  

The same angst that Americans and Europeans have about the future of jobs is an order of magnitude higher in Asia.

Robinson explains how natural experiments are done and why they’re useful. He also explains distribution of power and development of state play critical roles in successful economies.

Back-room deals on corporate tax reform won’t increase growth

Greater efficiency, lower costs, and universal coverage make it the sustainable option, say some top economists

The famed short-seller offers a mid-2017 reality check for “fake fiscal news,” and economic pipe dreams, and sees “portents of even worse things”

Current proposals will worsen inequality and harm those Trump promised to protect—while further enriching the top 1%

The Young Scholars Initiative is hosting its regional convening for Latin America in Mexico City from 17-21 June. 

Naomi Klein discusses her new book, No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need.

Young Scholars Initiative (YSI) has released a new e-book, “Conversations on Dependency Theory”