Last week, this blog won its second award, “Best in Blogging” at the 2010 Digital Media Awards. It’s an apposite time, therefore, to do a little bit of stock-taking. This post thanks those who’ve made the blog what is – especially the readership! – before launching version 2.0, which features research. The first research item presented is the Impact of World War On Labour Market Inequality: Insights from the Building Industry.
An Arthur’s Day post: the tale of a company worth £17.59m
This post celebrates Arthur’s Day and 250 years of Guinness with an economic perspective on our national drink, including a look at wages measured in Guinness terms and the fate of Guinness on the stock markets from its flotation in the 1880s to the end of the Roaring Twenties… and of course the magic dates when Guinness was worth 17.59 (million)!
A Rawlsian look at long-term development: another perspective on the Africa puzzle
Long-run data on inequality within and across countries from the 1820s allow a Rawlsian look at the world: how well off are the poorest in society? This post calculates GDP per capita of the poorest 10% of a society for a selection of world regions. This perspective makes Africa’s plight even more baffling, given that its poorest citizens were better off than those of any other developing region up to 1914. Its poorest citizens now are no better off than its poorest citizens then.
Building a better picture of education’s role in economic development
A newly available dataset on education levels around the world from 1870 to 2010 has allowed economists to test fundamental hypotheses about economic development. This has led to fascinating insights about what causes inequality, population growth and democracy: in each case, education has played a key role. This is an optimistic message as education – unlike for example geography – can be influenced by policy choices.
Flu economics, climate change and Google Squared
Some interesting links on the potential economic effects of Mexican flu, the latest evidence on how climate change may lead to large-scale migration and yet another tool from Google for researchers.
Five years, six property markets, mixed fortunes
The last four years have been remarkable in the global property market – so remarkable that comparisons with nominal collapses in house prices of 95% (as happened in Georgian Dublin) are being seriously discussed. A quick examination of six different cities around the world since 2005 shows a whole range of experiences from collapse in Detroit to more recent falls in Hong Kong.
Property prices in six cities around the world, Jan 2005-Jan 2009
Protectionist backlash or falling consumer demand: Is the world in danger of deglobalization?
What if unemployment in Ireland reaches 25% next year? What if GDP falls a quarter between 2007 and 2012? The spectre of the Great Depression looms over us large at the moment and there has been much commentary of late – see for example Robert Samuelson’s recent blog post – on whether and how our [...]
Economist likes sociologist’s book – Shocker
As everyone knows, economists and sociologists are the faculty equivalent of cats and dogs. As an economist, I’m more or less brought up to think that sociologists are a bit funny, really, and their models and ways of explaining the world around them good cannon fodder.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I opened this book recently [...]
