VoxTalks Economics

In the brief history of climate finance, Andrew Karolyi has been one of the pioneers, both as an author and a catalyst to encourage other finance experts to become involved. He talks to Alissa Kleinnijenhuis and Tim Phillips about what inspired him to take on what he calls “the wickedest of wicked problems”, how he kickstarted research on the topic, and the little-known involvement of King Charles III in the genesis of climate finance.

Recorded at CEPR Paris Symposium 2023: The Fed has been rapidly raising rates recently. In the recent past this would have caused a red alert in the central banks of emerging markets. But not this time – so why not? Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan tells Tim Phillips why this time, it’s different.

Africa’s refugees often live in large, permanent camps. While the arrival of refugees is often an economic boost for the region, it is also bad for the health of the children of local families. Anna Maria Mayda and Jean-François Maystadt tell Tim Phillips how their research resolved this contradiction. Picture: Julien Harneis/Flickr

COP28 has just concluded. Every COP demonstrates both the urgent need to devise policies that will shape the future of our planet and the people who inhabit it, but also the difficulty of implementing those initiatives. That’s why CEPR is introducing 'Climate Change and the Environment' as its latest programme area. Mar Reguant, who will lead the programme, and Beatrice Weder di Mauro, President of CEPR talk to Tim Phillips about whether COP can ever deliver, how climate change is now a part of every economist’s research agenda, and how you can get involved in the programme.

When city dwellers travel, they worry about problems like about traffic jams, congestion charges, and the time spent waiting for public transport. Nicolas Martinez made a model of what happens when a street-smart population decides how and when to travel every day, and he tells Tim Phillips about how he applied it to investigate the usefulness of Paris’s traffic regulations.

In the US, redistricting is done by the party in power. If you wanted to maximise the advantage to your side, how would you do it? And is that happening in practice? Allison Stashko talks to Tim Phillips about whether gerrymandering in the US is crossing the line.

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.

Climate change will have an impact on the natural environment, and the natural environment will affect the rate of climate change. Is biodiversity risk reflected in asset prices? Is it possible to use private capital to finance biodiversity conservation and restoration, and what can that achieve? Alissa Kleinnijenhuis and Tim Phillips talk to Johannes Stroebel and Caroline Flammer.

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.

Scientists are affected by war, like anyone else. Their work is disrupted, they are placed in danger, they may become refugees or casualties. What has been the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on its scientists? Ina Ganguli talks to Tim Phillips.

Estimates of potential growth – the best an economy can do – drive development and poverty reduction. Lower potential is a problem that constrains policymakers and so affects all of us. New research analyses the long downward trend in potential growth, makes projections for the next decade, and suggest ways we can boost it. Sinem Kilic Celik talks to Tim Phillips.

What part does group identity play in who we choose to vote for? In every democracy it seems as if our leaders are using identity politics to gain new voters or define a distinct political agenda, but what does that mean for economic policies and polarisation? Guido Tabellini tells Tim Phillips about his research into the influence of identity on political alignment in the US.

Opposition to asylum seekers has become a political and social media hot button issue in every high-income country. But does their presence also depress rental values for neighbouring properties? Marius Brülhart tells Tim Phillips about new research from Switzerland that uncovers the effect of immigration on rents.

When suddenly it became quicker and cheaper to travel by train, did this help inventors to work together, and did it mean more and better innovation? Thor Berger and Erik Prawitz – who work 1 hour 50 minutes apart by train, investigated the impact of Sweden’s rail network.

Online share trading makes it possible for all of us to diversify our investments, but social media might encourage us to pile into bad investments. Hans Hvide has researched the impact of the arrival of broadband on the investment habits of Norway’s population, and he has some good news for Tim Phillips.

The way that social scientists define populism might lead them to simplistic conclusions that aren’t supported by the historical record. Kevin O’Rourke tells Tim Phillips about the weak links between populism and nativism, and how economists have sometimes been on the wrong side of important policy debates with the people they call populists.

When India’s post-colonial constitution gave everyone the right to vote, who used that right? And what effects did this reform have on other aspects of democracy? Lakshmi Iyer tells Tim Phillips about the historical link between enfranchisement and democracy in India.

Investors do more business than we would expect close to home. Can Germany’s car licence plates explain what drives local bias in investment? Thilo Huning and Fabian Wahl take Tim Phillips on an unlikely journey.

We are living longer, and so studying the consequences of changes to our income and health after we stop working is becoming more important. Jeanne Commault tells Tim Phillips how income and health shocks affect seniors, and whether the impact of these changes is the same as for working-age people.

From the PSE-CEPR Policy Forum at the Paris School of Economics. One route out of poverty is to change external conditions: provide assets, jobs, healthcare. But can we also treat depression, or low self-esteem, or low aspirations, and does that help poverty reduction? Dean Karlan of Northwestern University tells Tim Phillips what new research is telling us – and what we don’t yet know.

Recorded live at the PSE-CEPR Policy Forum at the Paris School of Economics. We all learn that high inflation creates price distortions. But it has been impossible to observe that effect directly -- until now. Klaus Adam of the University of Mannheim has used price data to identify those elusive distortions, and he tells Tim Phillips how he did it.

Recorded live at the PSE-CEPR Policy Forum at the Paris School of Economics. Does economic inequality create political inequality? Julia Cagé tells Tim Phillips about the strategies that rich people can use to influence the political debate, how democracy is undermined when the wealthy have access to power – and how we can change the system to restore the confidence of voters.

Recorded live at the PSE-CEPR Policy Forum at the Paris School of Economics. India is still one of the five worst countries in the world for the health and survival of women. The recent introduction of massive health insurance programmes should help close this deadly gender gap. But is that happening? Pascaline Dupas of Stanford talks to Tim Phillips.

From the PSE-CEPR Policy Forum at the Paris School of Economics, Tim Phillips meets three of the young researchers who were chosen to present to the conference. Duncan Webb and Thiago Scarelli of PSE, and Carmen Villa-Llera of the University of Warwick talk about their research – and what their hopes are for the future of economics.

Is innovation our best hope for dealing with climate change and, if so, how can we stimulate the sort of innovation that we need to make the green energy transition? Philippe Aghion tells Tim Phillips that we need both carbon tax and industrial policy and, like a visit to the dentist, the pain gets worse the longer we wait.

From the PSE-CEPR Policy Forum at the Paris School of Economics. The IFS in the UK and the IPP in France combine rigorous research with a commitment to communicate the results to media and public. How do they make sure their message cuts through the noise, and how do they safeguard their reputations for independence and authority? Paul Johnson and Antoine Bozio talk to Tim Phillips.

From the PSE-CEPR Policy Forum at the Paris School of Economics. What caused inflation in the US, where will it settle, and how much unemployment will be the cost of bringing it back to target? Olivier Blanchard talks to Tim Phillips.

In the first of a series of podcasts recorded at the PSE-CEPR Policy Forum at the Paris School of Economics, Esther Duflo talks to Tim Phillips about how development economics can respond to the challenges of the 21st century, the link between climate justice and corporate taxation, and why development economics is like cooking a ragoût.

Is economics a young person’s game? Great mathematicians tend to peak early, but not great artists – so which category does a professor of economics fall into? Dan Hamermesh has investigated the productivity of economists as they grow old, and he tells Tim Phillips what he discovered.

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.

How does the rate of tax that firms pay relate to their carbon emissions? If firms that pay less emit more, then taxation may be delivering a subsidy on pollution. If those that pay less emit less, then taxation may also be helping to protect the environment. Luigi Iovino and Julien Sauvagnat of Bocconi University tell Tim Phillips whether browner firms pay more or less tax – and why.

Stress testing can potentially capture the impact of climate change on the health of the financial system. But Dirk Schoenmaker tells Tim Phillips that, in their current form, these exercises underestimate the impact of changes in our climate.

When Thomas Hobbes published Leviathan in the 17th century, he argued that the state has absolute authority over its citizens. The principal that the state’s monopoly of institutionalised violence keeps the peace is now widely accepted – but is this true, or is it the checks and balances on that power prevent conflict? Gerard Roland talks to Tim Phillips.

Bonus episode: At the American Economic Association’s annual meeting 2023 in New Orleans, CEPR got the chance to ask Larry Summers three big questions about the global economy in 2023 and beyond.