VoxTalks Economics

In 1970 Milton Friedman told us that “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its profits.” Faced with climate change, is that still the right objective for a company, and what could replace it? Dirk Schoenmaker, one of the authors of “Corporate Finance for Long-Term Value” talks to Alissa Kleinnijenhuis and Tim Phillips.

Our financial system is supposed to be more resilient than before the global financial crisis, but that didn’t save Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank or First Republic. So what went wrong, and can we fix it? Steve Cecchetti and Kim Schoenholtz suggest to Tim Phillips how regulators can make banking safer.

In the 1930s we didn’t know that drinking alcohol during pregnancy could affect the health of a baby. David Jacks of the National University of Singapore has used the repeal of Prohibition to investigate the impact on the long-term health of adults who were in utero when some mothers could drink alcohol, and some could not. 

In today’s polarised atmosphere, violent attacks on politicians are not unusual, and women are more likely to be the victims. Are they victimised because they choose different policies, or just because of their gender? Gianmarco Daniele has investigated violence against women in Italian politics, and he talks to Tim Phillips about his disturbing findings.

Johannes Stroebel and Caroline Flammer discuss the correlation between biodiversity risk and asset prices, intergovernmental mechanisms for biodiversity protection, assessing the value of biodiversity investments, and the twin crises of climate change and the loss of natural capital.

By automating non-routine tasks, AI may have a profound effect on the jobs we do, and even whether those jobs exist. How much should we fear, and how much should we welcome this change? In the second of our podcasts from the Chicago Booth School Economic Experts Conference 2023, Tim Phillips speaks to John Van Reenen about how AI will affect our working lives.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the narrative was that we were at “the end of history”. Now we have changed our minds: globalization is in retreat, and we're entering a new Cold War. Is this new narrative true? At the Chicago Booth School Economic Experts Conference 2023, Tim Phillips speaks to Beata Javorcik and Sergei Guriev about shifting geopolitics and the global economy.

New series: climate finance is an essential part of the fight against climate change. Join co-hosts Alissa Kleinnijenhuis and Tim Phillips for the important debates in climate finance, with the researchers and policymakers who are making a difference. In our introductory episode: What problems can climate finance solve, and how do we solve them? With guests Patrick Bolton, Viral Acharya, and Stefano Giglio.

On social media and in interviews, voters and their representatives sometimes seem full of rage. Is the current rise in populism driven by this anger, or is that conclusion too simplistic? Klaus Desmet tells Tim Phillips about what research into America’s angriest places tells us.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provided $350 billion in tax credits and other incentives for clean energy technologies in the US. So how did American policymakers respond when South Korean government officials declared it was a “betrayal”? Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute tells Tim Phillips the strange-but-true tale of how the problem was fixed, and what it tells us about protectionist trade policy in a global crisis.