VoxTalks Economics

Among other things, it has not been a great year for global democracy. So in the final VoxTalk of 2020, Konstantin Sonin tells Tim Phillips how authoritarian leaders grab and hold on to power. 

Will the pandemic create more or fewer babies? Joshua Wilde tells Tim Phillips how Google search data can provide the answer.

When the galleon San José sank in a typhoon in 1694, it was carrying a cargo worth 2% of the GDP of the entire Spanish empire. Fernando Arteaga, Desiree Desierto and Mark Koyama tell Tim Phillips about how bribes sank Spanish treasure ships.Read the Vox column about Spanish shipwrecks.

Africa's roads were originally built so that colonial powers could extract its natural wealth. What has happened since then? Steven Poelhekke of the University of Auckland examines the maps with Tim Phillips.

Laotians are still suffering collateral damage from a covert war that the US waged in the country half a century ago. Felipe Valencia Caicedo tells Tim Phillips about the devastating impact of the bombing of Laos, and how we can help victims of conflict in future.

When we compare ratios of debt to GDP, do we look closely enough at the political and financial context in which the debts were calculated? Eric Monnet of the Paris School of Economics tells Tim Phillips about how our statistical methods and assumptions have evolved.

The EU's increasingly complex system of fiscal rules should be replaced by a system of fiscal standards instead, Olivier Blanchard tells Tim Phillips.You can watch the recording of Olivier presenting his paper on Fiscal Standards for Europe at the 72nd Economic Policy Journal Panel Meeting hereThe full paper, Redesigning the EU Fiscal Rules: From Rules to Standards by Olivier Blanchard, Alvaro Leandro and Jeromin Zettelmeyer, can be downloaded here

In 2003 Brazil enacted strict gun control legislation. Rodrigo Schneider tells Tim Phillips about the effects on crime and homicide, and whether we can assume there would be a similar impact in other countries.Find more about Rodrigo's paper Crime and political effects of a right-to-carry ban in Brazil , presented at the 72nd Economic Policy Panel Meeting

How well does campaign finance work, and which political parties benefit most? Julia Cagé tells Tim Phillips how the price of a vote has varied in recent British and French elections.

How much did nepotism in Europe's ancient universities hold back progress? David De La Croix tells Tim Phillips about his fascinating research into the emergence of modern science.