VoxTalks Economics

Voters fret that immigration overcrowds local schools, overwhelms hospitals, and that they will have to pay higher taxes as a result. Are those fears justified? Anna Maria Mayda and Mine Senses have separated fact from fiction, and they tell Tim Phillips about which US counties benefit most and least from the arrival of immigrants.

Do Europe’s trade sanctions hurt Russia, or do they hurt European firms more? Gauging the impact of sanctions isn’t easy or reliable, but Jean Imbs tells Tim Phillips about a new way to estimate their effects, and what it tells us about the economies of Russia and Europe.

When there are more women in the workplace, that means either more gender diverse teams, or more collaboration between women. There are more female economists now, so how is that reflected in the way researchers collaborate? And what type of teams produce the best results? Anja Prummer talks to Tim Phillips about gender diversity, homophily, and whether she should have chosen a male co-author.

Digital technology, and AI in particular, is getting a lot of hype at the moment. Daron Acemoglu thinks that unchecked techno-optimism is concentrating power in the hands of a super-wealthy elite, threatening the livelihoods of the rest of us, and undermining democracy. Tim Phillips talks to him about why he wrote his new book called Power and Progress, co-authored with Simon Johnson, how we can redirect the path of innovation, and why he signed that letter to urge a pause in AI innovation.

How do China’s government-owned commercial banks respond to informal guidance from The People’s Bank of China? Their reaction to recent guidance designed to cool off mortgage lending offers a fascinating insight into how the banking sector works in China. Michel Habib of the University of Zurich talks to Tim Phillips.

In 2020 finance ministers threw their fiscal policy plans into the bin and did everything they could to protect and stimulate Covid-hit economies. How much of the spike in inflation did the Covid rescue cause? Galina Hale talks to Tim Phillips.

Between the 16th and 18th centuries, at least 180,000 tons of silver and around 4,000 tons of gold were extracted from the Americas and transported to Europe. How much of western Europe’s economic transformation can be attributed to this windfall? Yao Chen tells Tim Phillips about new research that upends the conventional wisdom.

When the political debate hots up in the world’s largest democracy, is this good for newspaper circulation? Guilhem Cassan talks to Tim Phillips about how to make a causal link from Indian politics to how many newspapers are sold, and what sort of papers they are.

Emerging economies need to undergo a green energy metamorphosis, which for many of them has only just started. But can they transform without creating greenflation, or reducing output? Florencia Airaudo tells Tim Phillips about the sobering conclusions of a new analysis of possible policy options.

There is more than one way to measure expected inflation. But which methods are most reliable, and how well did they predict the upward trend in European inflation from 2021 onwards? Ricardo Reis talks to Tim Phillips.