Political economy
When Does Mandatory Price Disclosure Lower Prices?
In new research, Felix Montag, Alina Sagimuldina, and Christoph Winter study the impact of mandatory price disclosure (MPD) for sellers in the German retail fuel market to determine under what market conditions MPD can reduce prices for consumers.
Is a Gridlocked Congress Causing More Polarization?
In new research, Marc Jacob, Barton E. Lee and Gabriele Gratton argue that legislative gridlock is not only a consequence of Congress’ polarization but also a cause of it. In sum, both polarization and gridlock fuel one another generating a vicious spiral toward political mire.
Faustian Bargains
The following is an excerpt from the book Law, Development and Regulatory Globalisation
The Case of the World Bank in India's Electricity Sector, by Adithya Chintapanti.
The Political Economy of Left-Wing Populism in America
Richard Oestreicher explores the recent history of left-wing populism in the United States: its origins, its motivations, and how that populism is likely to mature and transform U.S. politics with it.
Food for Thought
An excerpt from the second edition of Marion Nestle's book, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, out now.
If You Care About the Climate, Should You Be Anti-AI?
Environmentally conscious critics of artificial intelligence worry about the massive amounts of energy and fresh water its data centers require. Alessio Terzi writes that in the long term, and with the help of government regulation, the benefits of AI-accelerated innovation will outweigh the short-term environmental costs we now observe.
Corporate Attacks Against the National Labor Relations Board Could Break the Government
Dylan Gyauch-Lewis writes that efforts by big businesses, including SpaceX, Amazon, and Trader Joe’s, to undermine the National Labor Relations Board rests on poor interpretations of the Constitution but would devastate the American government and economy if successful.
State-Level Private Enforcement Is Much More Complicated Than Previously Thought
Most of the scholarship on private enforcement, in which individual citizens sue to enforce legal statutes, has focused on federal-level laws. In new research, Diego A. Zambrano, Neel Guha, Austin Peters, and Jeffrey Xia show how expansive and messy state-level private enforcement statutes are, and explain why previous theories on private enforcement do not explain the dynamic among the states. They conclude that research on state-level private enforcement demands much more attention than previously provided.
The Economic Consequences of Political Pressure on the Federal Reserve
Politicians often interfere with central banks, but it is not clear how to measure such political pressure systematically and therefore difficult to quantify its economic consequences. In new research, Thomas Drechsel finds that political pressure strongly and persistently raises inflation and inflation expectations but has little impact on economic activity.
How Indian Pharma Can Become Global Leaders
Madan Dhanora, Mohd Shadab Danish, and Ruchi Sharma review the history of the Indian government’s efforts to encourage innovation, how these efforts have manifested in the national pharmaceutical industry, and what steps the government can take to further improve innovation.
