Category: Economics

Economics-driven content, perfect for students and teachers alike. Highly accessible and open to all.

Wall at world bank
Development, Interviews

An interview with Aart Kraay: Acting Head of the World Bank

I was lucky enough to be able to have a brief conversation with Aart Kraay, the acting Head Economist at the World Bank. He is Director of Research in the Developmental Research Group, and an expert on international capital movements, growth and inequality, governance, and the Chinese economy. Our discussion was largely centered around a paper, published by the World Bank in January 2020, that … Continue reading An interview with Aart Kraay: Acting Head of the World Bank

Unknown's avatarMaxwell DeLorenzoLeave a comment
Stock broker watching screens
Behavioural, Finance and Markets, International

Psychological Trading

The human mind is not built for financial business. Our archicortex (the oldest region of the brain’s cerebral cortex) can’t distinguish between life-threatening and non life-threatening situations. This has effects throughout the financial sector, especially trading. Unfortunately, the perfect rationality of the “homo economicus” is a lie: humans have always been known to be affected by emotions and biases. Richard Thaler, a Nobel laureate in … Continue reading Psychological Trading

Unknown's avatarNoah DornLeave a comment
Factories puffing out smoke with powerlines overhead
Environment

The Cost of Climate Change

We are frequently subjected to news detailing the awful consequences of climate change if we don’t prevent it, from cities flooded by melting ice to animal species becoming extinct. Yet it is very rare to see anything about how much flooded cities would damage the economy, and it is even rarer to hear about how much climate change is costing us already. Aside from the … Continue reading The Cost of Climate Change

Unknown's avatarMilo DennisonLeave a comment
Nudge spelled out from dice with letters on
Behavioural

Nudges: Will they work forever?

As has been well-documented in academic research, people are by no means rational. In their book ‘Nudges’, Thaler and Sunstein famously describe two types of thinking: system 1 and system 2. The former is a more automatic method involving quick judgement calls which are more prone to irrationality, while the latter is much more deliberate, and less prone to external influences. From the moment we … Continue reading Nudges: Will they work forever?

Unknown's avatarTrevor ChowLeave a comment