Topic: Economy

People with luggage Research Brief / Economy

Modern Monetary Theory: Fiasco in Latin America, Option in U.S.?

The populist model, embraced by some on the American left, resembles policy that helped torpedo some smaller economies

Loaded cargo ship docked Forecast / International Trade

Some Unfortunate Truths about Trade

The troublesome relationship between tariffs, trade deficits and the tenuous economic recovery

Workers leaving a building Research Brief / Labor

Which Policies Best Counter Mass Layoffs? Maybe None

A study of military base closures finds that labor-friendly policies had little effect on job growth after the layoffs

Illustration of a person pulling a line chart Research Brief / Consumer Lending

Credit Scores, Used to Predict Repayment, Can Restrain Economic Recovery

Rigid adherence to scoring systems can reduce consumer spending when it’s most needed

TV News anchor Research Brief / Politics

Municipal Pension Crisis Made Worse by Democrats in Close Elections

Sixty years of data suggest retirement obligations rise after Democrats scrape into office

Illustration of Caribbean Research Brief / Labor

An Early Episode of How Corporate Profits Shaped Labor Markets

Caribbean plantation owners, faced with slavery’s end, enacted legal barriers to employment elsewhere

A classroom with students Research Brief / Gender Gap

Parents Who Favor Boys Raise Girls Who Score Lower in Math

A clue that parents prefer a son: They have more kids when their firstborn is a girl

Smokey factories in China Research Brief / Sustainability

94% of China’s Pollution Inspections Find No Violation

Researchers offer a model for more effectively targeting wrongdoers

Male prisoners in a prison yard Research Brief / Politics

Do Private Prisons Lead to Higher Incarceration Rates?

Researchers take on the difficult job of isolating for-profit prisons from a host of other factors

Forklift in a warehouse Research Brief / Manufacturing

When Manufacturers Commence Exporting, They Become More Efficient

Looking at costs, in a sample of 5,000 plants in Chile, remarkable productivity gains occur

Illustration of a brain and a hand holding up a coin Research Brief / Behavioral Economics

Do People Donate Money to Signal Their Intelligence?

Research suggests such a connection when donations are publicized

Highspeed rail Research Brief / Housing

Impact of High-Speed Rail: Surprising Data on Real Estate Prices

In Japan, speedier commutes let workers live farther from jobs, taking some pressure off high-priced housing markets

A graph illustration showing the equilibrium of labor supply and labor demand Primer / Minimum Wage

Through the Minimum Wage Looking Glass: Economic Consensus Unrealized

Researchers struggle with faulty study designs, flyspecking each other’s work, re-arguing decades of debate about jobs and income

Illustration of a map Research Brief / Cultural History

How Local Governance Came to England’s Economy

Nico Voigtländer found that to combat arbitrary taxes and corruption, merchants persuaded the king to cede control

Guillermo Moreno Research Brief / Economics

Citizens Are Not Fooled by Fake Statistics

What happened when the Argentine government lied about inflation numbers?

Two people watching a Progressive Insurance ad on TV Research Brief / Advertising

The Limited Payoff in Auto Insurance Advertising

Ads aimed at brand awareness are shown to be more effective