Blogs&Reviews | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

Addressing global imbalances requires cooperation
Maurice Obstfeld, 10 August 2018

The IMF's 2018 External Sector Report assesses the current account balances for the 30 largest economies. In this post, Maurice Obstfeld outlines the key findings of the report.
Introducing a new Brexit policy panel
Anand Menon, Jonathan Portes, 09 August 2018

In this post, Anand Menon and Jonathan Portes summarise the results of the first in a monthly series of surveys in which a cross-disciplinary group of leading social scientists are asked their views on three key areas of uncertainty around Brexit: if — and when — the UK will leave the EU; how Brexit will affect British politics; and what our relationship with the EU is likely to look like in the future.
Our Gilded Age (India version)
Diane Coyle, 08 August 2018

Diane Coyle reviews James Crabtree’s "The Billionaire Raj", which offers a window on India’s super-wealthy and on on an extraordinary period of change in the country.
Red and Blue: One country or two?
Helen Popper, 06 August 2018

Republican and Democrat states, and their economies, differ. In this post, Helen Popper and David Parsley ask whether they are as different as economies from two distinct countries.

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The micro incompetence of UK austerity

Simon Wren-Lewis, 02 August 2018

Under certain assumptions, austerity could be seen as a valid method for ridding public spending of some waste and inefficiency. One of these assumptions is that each part of public spending has an equal political voice. But as Simon Wren-Lewis points out in this post, the real world is just not like that.
The class window

Diane Coyle, 01 August 2018

JD Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy" looks at the specifics of the white working class in a now economically depressed part of the US – including the catastrophic drink and drugs epidemic. Diane Coyle finds that it offers a well-written insight into the knot of economic and cultural barriers facing many ‘left behind’ families.
Soybeans illustrate Trump's wrongfooted approach on trade

Chad Bown, Eva (Yiwen) Zhang, 31 July 2018

In July, the Trump administration suddenly found itself scrambling to find new markets for soybeans in Europe and to spend federal funds to protect American farmers from the retaliation provoked by the administration’s tariffs. In this post, Chad Bown and Eva Zhang argue that the soybean skirmish illustrates the wrongheadedness of the president’s approach to trade.
Brexit endgame: Second stage (which is unlikely to end with no deal)

Simon Wren-Lewis, 31 July 2018

The 'second stage' of Brexit is what Theresa May has to do to get over the March 2019 hurdle that sees the UK exit from the EU. In this post, Simon Wren-Lewis argues that given parliament’s failure to provide any guide to the executive, our only clue about what this entails is to think about what is in Theresa May’s interests.
Trump's $262 billion China tariff threat plays with the bank’s money

Chad Bown, Euijin Jung, Zhiyao (Lucy) Lu, 26 July 2018

In the latest threat to escalate his trade war with China, President Trump has raised the possibility of new tariffs on all US imports from that country. In this post, Chad Bown, Euijin Jung, and Lucy Lu argue that Trump is gambling with American families’ jobs, incomes, and livelihoods.

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