An economist must be “mathematician, historian, statesman, philosopher, in some degree . . . as aloof and incorruptible as an artist, yet sometimes as near the earth as a politician.” So remarked John Maynard Keynes, the great British economist who, as much as anyone, could be called the father of macroeconomics. No single statement summarizes better what it means to be an economist. As Key…
America’s economic development is a top public policy priority. A lack of federal consensus on an overall economic development strategy in Washington, DC has been filled in by regions and states across the nation. Successful local and state economic development strategies center around basic or building block strategies and more advanced five drivers strategies centering on specific industry …
Government intervention is perhaps the most universal institutional change in the development of modern economies. Yet there is considerable debate on the relationship between economic development and the expansion of government. The relationship has been viewed as causal, but both directions have been emphasized. To many, government fosters economic growth. To others, economic growth, because …
The aim of this book is to provide an introductory treatment of time series econometrics that builds upon the basic statistical and regression techniques contained in my Analysing Economic Data: A Concise Introduction.1 It is written from the perspective that the econometric analysis of economic and financial time series is of key importance to both students and practitioners of economics and s…
Even in the early 19th century, John C. Calhoun described the United States as divided between the "tax payers and tax eaters." And today, we can use that same analysis. Ludwig von Mises called the battle between these two artificially created groups a "caste conflict," in contradistinction to Karl Marx's class conflict. There can be no natural class conflict in society, since the free market …
Ña Fabiana stacked the plastic bags full of clothes on a chair as we dis- cussed the final items that remained from her investment the previous year. She spread out the last of her inventory: soft microfleece gloves for children and adults, brightly colored striped socks with individual toes, winter coats, and children’s turtleneck shirts. Some of the clothing had become stained in storage …
Ten years ago Joe Salerno inherited the Mises Institute’s summer fellowship program from his predecessor, Jörg Guido Hülsmann.Generously funded by Peg Rowley, summer fellows are given time to study Austrian economics fi rsthand with some of the current masters. Not only is a sense of camaraderie inculcated amongst the participants, but they are also given access to the world’s best Austr…
Since 2007 the question of growth has plagued the British economy. Though, at the time of writing in the early summer of 2014, growth has returned, a pervasive anxiety about the solidity, stability and sustain- ability of that growth persists, even in the most hallowed of elite polit- ical circles. Thus, even the recently appointed Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, is concerned that…
France has been widely acknowledged as the principal driving force behind European economic and monetary union (EMU). Every French president from Georges Pompidou onwards has placed the creation of EMU at the centre of France’s European policy. President François Mitterrand finally clinched the deal when, in December 1991, he secured German Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s agreement at the Maas…
I ended up working on European and international energy law issues more or less by coincidence. Having embarked on a career in general EU law, I worked on the first merchant infrastructure case under the (then) new EU regulatory frameworks for electricity and gas. Thinking that this was an interesting project, I decided to write an article explaining the regulatory considerations to be taken in…
The European Union (EU) is facing a fundamental crisis, which especially affects the countries that take part in the single currency, the euro. The group is usually referred to as the eurozone, and when the ministers of finance from these countries meet they are referred to as the Euro Group. This group has its own president, currently Jean-Claude Juncker from Luxembourg. It can be seen as a su…
When dealing with ambiguous terms, the first duty of a writer is definition. The words 'industrial revolution in small letters-usually refer to that complex of technological innovations which, by substituting machines for human skill and inanimate power for human and animal force, brings about a shift from handicraft to manufacture and, so doing, gives birth to a modern economy. In this sense…
This volume, the second in the series produced by the Columbia Program on Indian Economic Policies, turns to the analysis of the reforms from a differ- ent viewpoint than the first. It takes as its starting point the fact that while the reforms have undoubtedly delivered in terms of poverty reduction and associated social objectives, the impact has not been as substantial as it has been in othe…
The question may be asked, why is it important to discuss good govern- ance as a prerequisite for sustainable and environmentally friendly development? The answer to the above question lies in the historical experience of failure to achieve economic growth by many countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America in the past several decades. Since the end of World War II, the economic literature o…
European social democracy needs to be shaken out of the defensive posture to which it has shrunk for several years now. It should not be in this position at all. Inequality is again becoming a major issue; the power of large corporations is producing a growing number of problems for consumers, workers and citizens; the neglect of collective needs is producing frightening problems of environment…
The notion ‘International Economic Law’ encompasses a complex architecture of rules governing international economic relations and transboundary economic conduct by States, international organizations, and private actors. The term essen- tially refers to the regulation of cross-border transactions in goods, services, and capital, monetary relations and the international protection of inte…
Markets, technologies, and policies constantly evolve at different levels in various countries, and this has led us to analyse these aspects as the drivers of energy policies. All have a policy and regulatory impact on market structures, which further stimulates technological development. It is noteworthy that the causes of the energy transition may either stem from the state or from market for…
overall how societies are ‘energized’ is crucial for understanding how they work, how they are ‘powered’. this powering of societies depends upon systems of energy production, distribu- tion and consumption. these vary enormously, from muscle power, wood, wind, water and sun to coal, gas, oil, hydroelectric, geothermal and nuclear, from small-scale localized production to huge global …