VoxTalks Economics

VoxTalks Economics


Latest Episodes

14: Discovering history's notable people
April 16, 2021

Can we create a database of everyone in history? What would it tell us about who we consider to be important? Etienne Wasmer, Morgane Laouenan, and Arash Nekoei tell Tim Phillips about what their projects tell us.

13: Inequality beyond GDP
April 02, 2021

We measure inequality using income as a proxy for welfare. But are we mixing up "doing well" with "being well"? Leandro Prados de la Escosura thinks so, and his research contradicts much of what we think we know about the long-run trends in inequality.

12: What if bitcoin succeeds?
March 26, 2021

What would our economies be like if Bitcoin completely displaced fiat currency? Jon Danielsson tells Tim Phillips that it wouldn't be a world that he wants to live in. 

11: Do looks matter in economics?
March 19, 2021

Good-looking economists get better academic posts. Galina Hale tells Tim Phillips about surprising new research that challenges our assumptions about how departments rate and recruit candidates.

10: Regulation after Wirecard
March 12, 2021

It has been two years since Wirecard suddenly collapsed. Giorgio Barba Navaretti and Alberto Pozzolo explain to Tim Phillips why it is so hard to supervise global fintechs, and how regulators can do a better job next time.

9: Exporting pollution
March 05, 2021

Anti-pollution laws penalise firms whose activities emit CO2. Itzhak Ben-David tells Tim Phillips that well-intentioned regulation may be causing multinationals to shunt polluting activities to poorer countries where regulation isn’t so strict.

8: How Africa can recover from Covid-19
February 23, 2021

Africa’s citizens have so far mostly been spared the direct health consequences of the pandemic, but many of its economies are on life support. Ugo Panizza and Simeon Djankov, two of the editors of a new CEPR ebook about Africa's recovery, talk to Tim Phi

7: Patent pools for generic drugs
February 19, 2021

Diffusion of new drugs is painfully slow in low-income countries. Mark Schankerman tells Tim Phillips about how patent pools accelerate the process, and how we could still do a better job of licensing life-saving medicines.

6: Is Europe's trade strategy fit for purpose?
February 10, 2021

Today the CEPR launches a new ebook on Europe's trade strategy. Author Christian Bluth tells Tim Phillips that nations are increasingly using global trade as a means of political arm-twisting. Should the EU do the same? Download Europe’s trade strategy fo

5: Do we give more to charity after we've been sick?
February 05, 2021

Serious illness can be life-changing. Does it inspire us to be more charitable? Sarah Smith tells Tim Phillips whether we give more to charity after we suffer, to which charities - and what this means for their funding after Covid-19.