VoxEU & CEPR Coverage of the Covid-19 Global Pandemic

Pyramidal groups – tiered structures where an apex firm controls multiple tiers of subsidiaries – allow a small number of powerful individuals or families to dominate many Asian, European and Latin American economies. This column examines the experiences of four countries that adopted measures to dismantle or limit the power of pyramids: the US in the 1930s, Japan under American occupation, Korea in the 1990s, and Israel in the last decade. It concludes that to successfully address concerns of arising from the concentration of economic power and curb the influence of large corporate entities, it is important to implement multiple regulatory tools which can address economy-wide, rather than industry-specific, economic power.

On 31 January 2020 the UK formally left the EU after over 40 years of membership. On 31 December, the UK’s transition period will come to an end and the UK and EU will establish a new trading relationship with greater trade frictions. At the time of writing, the terms of this relationship remain unclear. However, since the EU is by far the UK’s largest trading partner, the implications for the UK economy are likely to be profound. This column discusses potential consequences for the labour market – and earnings inequality – in the UK.