Europe’s Competitiveness Trap
Tilford, Simon. A flawed understanding of what drives economic growth has emerged as the gravest threat to recovery in Europe. European policymakers are obsessed with national “competitiveness,” and genuinely appear to think that prosperity is synonymous with trade surpluses. This largely explains why Germany is routinely cited as an example of a strong, “competitive” economy. […]
Legal Institutions, Innovation and Growth
Anderlini, Luca, Felli, Leonardo, Immordino, Giovanni & Riboni, Alessandro. Which legal institutions are best equipped to deal with the challenges of new technologies? The authors of CEPR DP8433 find a tradeoff between commitment and flexibility in the evolution of legal systems. Rigid legal systems, they argue, cope best with new technological developments because they help resolve credible […]
A Post-Crisis World of Risk
Spence, Michael. The global economy’s most striking feature nowadays is the magnitude and interconnectedness of the macro risks that it faces. The post-crisis period has produced a multi-speed world, as the major advanced economies – with the notable exception of Germany – struggle with low growth and high unemployment, while the main emerging-market economies (Brazil, […]