Thoughtful people invariably seek solutions at higher levels of governance. The frustrated volunteer supporting a food bank will call for action to address poverty by the local authority. Councilors press for action at the national level. Governments want regional organisations…
Global tax system under threat as intangible firms are targeted
Attempts to increase taxation on revenues generated by large technology companies, most of which are based in the US, are jeopardising the consensus underpinning the international corporation tax system, says a top tax expert. “The Internet and advances in telecommunications…
WeWork shows intangible capital companies may be houses of cards
In what is one of the most dramatic collapses in the value of a firm in business history, WeWork – the start-up US-based rental firm – is this week seeking financing it needs to keep the firm operating. Company failure…
As Mankiw stops, is it time for economics teaching to end too?
Harvard economics professor Nicholas Gregory Mankiw announced on 4 March that he will stop teaching the university’s flagship economics introductory course after 14 years. He was chairman of the Council of Economic advisers under President George W Bush and economic…
The trouble with the Bank of England’s Doomsday Brexit report
Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s Brexit report is interesting mainly because of the methodology it employs. The Bank of England’s report about the impact on the UK economy of leaving the EU issued on 28 November has attracted huge…
Pursuit of productivity is a wild goose chase
Bank of England chief economist Andrew Haldane’s mission impossible Bank of England chief economist Andrew Haldane was named today as chair of the UK government’s Industrial Strategy Council and mandated to focus on the apparent stagnation in productivity in the…