CAMBRIDGE It is common to think of US-China tensions as the inevitable result of stark differences between the two countries. The United States has a fully capitalist market economy, whereas the Chinese government keeps a strong hand on the economic tiller. For all its faults, the US is a democracy, whereas China is a single-party system that brooks no political challenge.
CAMBRIDGE Another tumultuous year has confirmed that the global economy is at a turning point. We face four big challenges: the climate transition, the good-jobs problem, an economic-development crisis, and the search for a newer, healthier form of globalization. To address each, we must leave behind established modes of thinking and seek creative workable solutions, while
CAMBRIDGE Conventional economics has always had a blind spot when it comes to jobs. The problem goes back to Adam Smith, who placed consumers, rather than workers, on the throne of economic life. What matters for well-being, he argued, is not how or what we produce, but whether we can consume our preferred bundle of goods and services.
CAMBRIDGE Conventional economics has always had a blind spot when it comes to jobs. The problem goes back to Adam Smith, who placed consumers, rather than workers, on the throne of economic life. What matters for well-being, he argued, is not how or what we produce, but whether we can consume our preferred bundle of goods and services.
CAMBRIDGE With the United States leading the way, the world seems to be entering a new era of economic nationalism, as many countries prioritise their domestic social, economic and environmental agendas over free trade and multilateralism. While President Joe Biden’s approach is more measured and open to international cooperation than Donald Trump’s was, it nonetheless