Some suggested quarantine reads from beyond the ERC (None of these are endorsements, purely signposting for those interested!):
w/c 13th July
Click here to access an excellent recording of Professor Joseph Stiglitz, the renowned Nobel Prize economist, in conversation with Professor Ian Goldin, in which they discuss the rethinking that is needed nationally and internationally to address inequality, economic growth, climate change, technology and the future of work, development challenges and the future of globalisation and international cooperation.
In this long form piece, the author addresses the rise in non-conforming leftist economic thought following years of classical economic dominance.
To read a briefing note by Sylvana Tenreyo, MPC member at the Bank of England, on the future of monetary policy following COVID, please click here.
w/c 29th June
In this piece, the authors evaluate the impact of the pandemic on maritime and energy industries.
In this piece for the New Statesman the state of the free ports project is evaluated.
Following criticism of the Black Lives Matter demand to defund the police, the author of this piece examines police funding, its shortfalls and where public money would be better directed.
In this piece, the authors examine what a US reparative economic agenda benefiting African Americans might look like.
w/c 15th June
To see the full slide deck for the ‘Local Impacts of Covid 19’ webinar (without the authors’ commentary) please click here.
In this piece from the Resolution Foundation, they look at the disproportionate burden placed on very young and older workers by the pandemic, finding that they have borne the brunt of the hit to jobs and pay, with the very youngest in the most challenging position.
In this piece, the authors address a set of proposals developed collectively in different contexts that form a ‘Social, Ecological, Economic and Intercultural Pact for Latin America’. Rather than a list of demands addressed to the governments of the day, it is pitched as ‘an invitation to build collective ideas, agree on a shared path to social change’ and provide a basis for shared challenges in all the different sectors of Latin American societies.
In this piece for the LSE blog, Sajid Amit (University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh) provides an overview of the impact of COVID 19 on the Bangladeshi economy, particularly looking at how small businesses, startups, the financial sectors, consumer demand, remittances and the ready-made garment sector will fare.
w/c 8th June
In this piece, Luigi Scazzieri argues that, while relations were hardly good prior, Trump’s response to Covid 19 is serving to widen the transatlantic rift.
In their latest UK Economic Outlook, PWC include the results from wave five of the ONS Business Impact of Coronavirus Survey, the furlough scheme and other labour market statistics. They also special focus on the impact of COVID-19 on consumer spending with the results from their latest consumer survey.
In this piece titled ‘Cash, Kisses and Karaoke: Why the War on Covid must not become a War on Cash’, Brett Scott warns of the financial exclusion that many face in the move to exclusively digital money.
In this podcast via the London Review of Books, Nancy Fraser (Professor of Political & Social Science at the New School for Social Research) was in conversation about capitalism and its discontents with Ann Pettifor (Director of Policy Research in Macroeconomics, Fellow of the New Economics Foundation and author of The Production of Money). They discuss Fraser’s new book, co-authored with Rahel Jaeggi, ‘Capitalism: A Conversation in Critical Theory’ engaging in a critical dialogue that seeks to expand our understanding of capitalism, revealing it to be not merely a system of economic relations, but rather a form of institutionalised social order, and one that continually reinvents itself through crisis.
w/c 1st June
To read the Global Drugs Survey Special Covid 19 edition from which this week’s chart data is drawn, please click here.
In this historical study of mass gatherings, Dan Hancox attempts to show how, despite threats from privatisation of public space, increasingly strict laws and now the pandemic, crowds still find ways to gather.
In this piece about pandemic price gouging, Sharon Lerner examines the political efforts to reform pharmaceutical pricing practices related to the COVID 19 pandemic, and the lobbying groups attempting to counter this.
In this historical analysis of the welfare state, Chaminda Jayanetti examines how states can best support those of working age but unemployed.
w/c 25th May
To read the full Institute of Employment studies report on vacancies from which this week’s chart is drawn, please click here.
In the latest research piece on mixed gender households from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, they highlight the additional impact on mothers who they find are still doing the lion’s share of unpaid household labour and childcare in lockdown. Indeed, they find that these gender disparities in unpaid labour persist even in households where the father is out of work or furloughed and the mother is in paid employment.
With the young likely to be disproportionately affected by this crisis, this piece examines some practical solutions for how the government might secure young people’s futures in our economic recovery.
In this piece by the Resolution Foundation, a thorough evaluation of Universal Credit titled ‘This Time is Different’ looks at how this instrument is coping with its first economic shock.
w/c 17th May
In ‘Economics in the Time of Covid 19’ (which you can access in full online here) editors Richard Baldwin and Beatrice Weder di Mauro have compiled salient contributions from a number of influential economists covering 14 covid 19 related topics; from its effects in the MENA region to an exploration of monetary policy solutions.
In The Lancet, three authors evaluate the gendered impact of the pandemic, finding that although infection rates are similar, mortality is worse among men.
In ‘Covid-Induced Economic Uncertainty’ the authors attempt to find real-time forward looking measures of uncertainty, including stock market volatility, newspaper-based economic uncertainty and subjective uncertainty in business expectation surveys which they hope can help policy-makers assess the likely macro-economic impact of the pandemic.
In this piece, previous ERC-speaker, Laurie MacFarlane, evidences the ‘spectre of authoritarian capitalism’ in Europe, as China surges ahead of the US and EU economically.
w/c 10th May
In this research, covered in the Wall Street Journal, the authors look forward to the next 3-5 years, examining 4 possible scenarios that could unfold globally following COVID 19 – none of which are particularly appealing.
Award winning writer Naomi Klein writes this longform piece for the Guardian outlining ‘How Big Tech plans to Profit from the Pandemic’.
In this piece from RICS, the impact on the global commercial property market is evaluated, with particular focus on how both the recession and the need for social distancing will impact rental yields.
This research from CBRE, covers the same but focused residential property. You can read it here.
w/c 4th May
To read the full analysis by London Economic on the impact of Corona virus on university funding, please click here.
This week’s (rather gloomy!) UK Economic Outlook from PWC is available to read here.
In this piece, Cambridge Professor of Public Policy Diane Coyle argues that the pandemic has made visible our economic interdependence, and its inherent risk.
In this article, six authors (Scott R. Baker, Nicholas Bloom, Steven J. Davis, Kyle Kost, Marco Sammon, and Tasaneeya Viratyosin) historically situate the stock market reaction to Covid 19, which they feel has been both totally unprecented and largely driven by policy responses.
w/c 27th April
In this piece, related to the tracing technology we discuss above, the authors examine how the pandemic has been used to usher in a new era of surveillance apps around the world.
Alex Chapman, via the New Economics Foundation, has an interesting piece on bailouts and suggests a decision-making tool for identifying where taxpayers’ money is best directed. Click here to read ‘Bailouts: Creating the New Normal’ .
In City AM, Christian May delves into the practicalities of the Coronavirus loan scheme and suggests it may fail to support those most in need.
In this round up from Oxford Economics, the impact on world trade is examined using quickly available data and the effect on the service sector is revealed.
w/c 20th April
In this FT piece (no paywall), titled ‘The Pandemic is a Portal’, author of Booker Prize winning novel ‘God of Small Things’, Arundhati Roy looks at the trouble facing India as Covid 19 takes hold.
For another, more optimistic perspective on what is happening in the subcontinent, visit the MIT Technology Review for ‘What the world can learn from Kerala about how to fight covid-19’ which looks at some high-tech solutions being implemented in the state.
In the New York Times, economic historian Jamie Martin argues against economic nationalism in his piece ‘This is not the time to let the market decide’.
In the Wall Street Journal, a collection of writers explain the state of the oil market with analysis and charts in ‘Thirst for Oil vanishes, leaving Industry in Chaos. You can read it (without paywall) here.
w/c 12th April
In this piece by Robert Skidelsky, titled ‘Lessons from Keynes in the age of coronavirus’ he analyses whether we should approach the current crisis much the same as a wartime economy.
You can find a short, informative video on this link by economist Diana Choyleva of Enodo Economics titled ‘The Post-Coronavirus World: An Introduction’ looking at the pandemic’s lasting impact.
w/c 6th April
For further discussion of inflation, and those likely to suffer its effects worst, see this piece from Charles Goodhart and Manoj Pradhan titled ‘Future Imperfect after Coronavirus’.
In this piece from Centre for European Research, the authors put forward the case for a redistributive ‘CoronaBond’ that helps weaker nations through the pandemic. Read it here.
For those interested in food insecurity in the pandemic, this short piece from the Director of Policy at the World Food Programme identifies the five major risks to food security posed by the virus.
Finally, this hot-off-the-press April Macro Update from Economic Perspectives is very comprehensive.
w/c 30th March
We have here some lecture slides from two Economics professors ( Paolo Surico and Andrea Galeotti) at London Business School ‘The Economics of a Pandemic: the Case of Covid19’ who offer a comprehensive look at what we know so far.
From Deloitte ‘The COVID-19 crisis: Economic impact and policy responses’ chart book is a wonderful resource, updated weekly. It offers a graphical overview of the key economic developments of the COVID-19 crisis.
‘‘We can’t go back to normal’: How will coronavirus change the world?’ is a long-form piece from Peter Baker in The Guardian explores the battle of ideas following the pandemic and the possibility for societal transformation, situating it historically.
Richard Murphy, previous ERC speaker and author of ‘The Joy of Tax’ has produced an interesting Guide to Tax Justice and Modern Monetary Theory newly relevant as global governments embark on unprecedented public spending sprees.