Does Inflation Really Hurt the Poor More than the Rich?
Pierre Monnin | 26 May 2014
Monetary,
Blog | Tags:
Inequality,
Inflation
After being neglected for decades, income and wealth inequality are back at the center of economic discussions. Recent work by the IMF, renowned economists like Joseph Stiglitz (e.g. in his book “The Price of Inequality”), as well as the lively debate generated by Thomas Piketty’s
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Bali Boost: WTO Lives, Snatched for Now From Jaws of Defeat
Jean-Pierre Lehmann | 23 December 2013
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
WTO
It would be churlish not to congratulate the WTO and especially Roberto Azevêdo, its dynamic director-general, for successfully passing a “Bali package” at the Indonesian resort well past the 11th hour on 7 December. The WTO Doha Round, launched in the Qatari capital in 2001,
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Africa Could Become the World’s Next Powerhouse
Gilles Carbonnier | 26 September 2013
Fiscal,
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Africa,
Commodities,
Taxes
“A winning Africa!” “Thousands of Portuguese workers emigrate to the former colony of Angola in search of work.” Headlines such as these are a perfect illustration of the Afro-optimism that has gripped the media these last few years. In an Africa courted by foreign investors,
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Property Taxes and Sustainability
Alexander Barkawi and
Peter Heller | 26 August 2013
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Housing,
Inequality
Many economists advocate that a higher share of government revenue should derive from taxes on immovable property. Proponents of a sustainability agenda may want to follow their advice. Read an OECD economic survey for a particular country and chances are high it recommends increasing the
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China-EU solar panel trade dispute: Rhetoric versus reality
Simon Evenett | 7 June 2013
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Antidumping,
Energy,
Renewables,
Subsidies
This article was first published on VoxEU.org and is republished with permission. Following a complaint lodged on 25 July 2012 by EU Pro Sun, an association representing around 20 EU-based producers of solar panels and components, the European Commission initiated an investigation into potential Chinese
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Green Economy – Beware of Merchants of Doubt
Stephen Boucher | 17 April 2013
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Green Growth,
Subsidies
Those who oppose change involving powerful economic sectors have long ago found an effective tactic: instilling doubt in the guise of reasonable arguments. A recent manifestation of this tactic is the claim that so-called ‘green jobs’ are too expensive and in fact destroy “real” jobs.
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Resource Scarcity, Export Restrictions and the Multilateral Trading System
Gilles Carbonnier | 10 April 2013
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Commodities,
Protectionism,
WTO
The turn of the millennium marked a shift towards higher commodity prices and greater price volatility, as a result of high demand for natural resources from emerging economies combined with export restrictions and financial speculation. A recent Chatham House report highlights that, over the past
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The Case for an International Tax Organisation
Peter Dietsch and
Thomas Rixen | 19 March 2013
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Tax Competition,
Taxes
Capital mobility entails fiscal interdependence. Since the abolition of capital controls in the 1960s and 1970s, and following the widespread abolition of withholding taxes in the wake of the first move in this direction by the Reagan administration in 1984, fiscal interdependence has turned from
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Sense & nonsense in end of year reviews
Simon Evenett | 21 January 2013
Fiscal,
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Forecasting
The turn of every calendar year witnesses a spate of reviews by pundits in the media. For a columnist, these reviews are an attractive vehicle, ideally drawing upon events from the previous 12 months and combining them with insights into developments relating to the next
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“What’s it for?” – Moral responsibility in an age of globalization
Jean-Pierre Lehmann | 2 December 2012
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Financial Markets,
G20,
WTO
Several years ago, I was approached by an Indian student following a lecture I had given on globalization and the interdependence of markets through cross-border flows of goods, services, ideas, knowledge, science and people. His question was: “But what’s it for?” In the late 20th/early
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