VoxTalks Economics

Imran Rasul tells Tim Phillips about new research that shows the fraction of published economics research devoted to the causes and consequences of racial inequality is much smaller than in political science or sociology - and that this inequality has been getting worse.

People everywhere sometimes pretend to be sick on a Friday because a day off work means a three-day weekend. In Italy, sick workers may now get a surprise home visit from the doctor. Tito Boeri tells Tim Phillips how effective this has been as a cure for "Friday morning fever".

If some kids lie a little, and some lie a lot, is that just the way they are, or can we increase a child’s honesty in day-to-day life? Johannes Abeler tells Tim Phillips about how mentors can create lasting behaviour change.The paper discussed is:Abeler, J, Falk, A and Kosse, F. 2021. 'Malleability of preferences for honesty'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=16164

Do cultural norms determine whether women go back to work after having a child? And if culture changes, does their behaviour change too? Anna Raute and Uta Schӧnberg tell Tim Phillips how the reunification of Germany provided unique data.The paper discussed is:Boelmann, B, Raute, A and Schӧnberg, U. 2021. 'Wind of Change? Cultural Determinants of Maternal Labor Supply'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=16149

John Maynard Keynes famously predicted that no one would need to work for more than three hours a day by 2030. How did he get it so wrong? Nick Crafts tells Tim Phillips that, in one way, Keynes has underestimated the change in our work-life balance.

What's the future of capitalism? Luis Garicano asked this question to 21 of his fellow economists, and this week the interviews are published as a CEPR ebook. He tells Tim Phillips that Covid-19 may inspire us "to rethink everything we are doing".You can download the new CEPR Press eBook 'Capitalism after Covid: Conversations with 21 economists' here

Latin America has a long history of populist government. New research by Antonio Spilimbergo quantifies the consequences of populism for the region's institutions and economies. 

The CEPR's Research Policy Network on competition policy (cepr.online/competition) launches this week. In the first of two special podcasts on the topic, Greg Crawford and Cristina Caffarra tell Tim Phillips why it is so important to have this debate now, and how academics can use the RPN to connect their research to real-world policy.You can find out more about and register for the event on June 17th 2021 here: Privacy & Antitrust: "Integration", not just "Intersection"

How well has monetary policy coped with the challenge of Covid-19?Central banks get good grades in a new VoxEU ebook. But Bill English and Angel Ubide warn Tim Phillips that success today may lead to problems in future.

Every day we can see harrowing mobile phone footage from conflict zones, shot by civilians, on the TV news. Ekaterina Zhuravskaya tells Tim Phillips that data from the Israel-Palestine conflict suggests social media has changed the tone of what traditional media reports.