Issue Theme Articles
Good God
Would new gods help combat corruption and improve democracy? Paul Frijters believes so. As the covid-19 pandemic has progressed, a growing number of governments have shifted to ruling by decree.
Normally corrupt
Riccardo D’Emidio explores why social norms and informality matter in considerations of corruption. Growing up in a British-Italian household I was regularly surprised by how differently people behaved in the
The unhappy face of corruption
Luca Andriani and Gaygysyz Ashyrov explain how life satisfaction is not a gold-plated toilet brush. Laura Kovesi was chief prosecutor of the Romanian Anti-Corruption Directorate between 2006 and 2018. She
The economics of corruption and the corruption of economics
The true meaning of corruption has been distorted, leaving research, policy and the public to allow it to continue unchecked. Geoffrey M. Hodgson explains. Some authors – particularly economists –
Other Articles
Out of our heads
Lindsey Hall tells of the ideas behind Real Ideas. Since we founded Real Ideas fourteen years ago, we have worked with all kinds of ideas – big concepts, quirky thoughts,
Sovereign states on a leash
Foreign investment: Rick Rowden recounts the tale of who’s wagging the dog. When Mexico adopted a tax on high-fructose corn syrup as part of an effort to address the
The pathology of economics
Covid-19 exposes the deadly dominance of neoclassical economics in Africa. Howard Stein. On 24 February 2021 Ghana received a vaccine shipment (600,000 doses), the first to sub-Saharan Africa under the
Money for nothing and other Newtonian repercussions
Georgian lessons on the modern economy by Simon Sherratt. In March 1819, William Cobbett – an inveterate critic of the British government – penned a remarkable letter for inclusion in
Deforestation: the route away
Without robust due diligence, financial institutions will continue to fund soy-driven deforestation. By Daniel Jones. Late last year, the UK government announced “world-leading new measures” to protect rainforests. Enshrined in
Power: don’t mention it
Do economists speak their mind or mind what they speak? Blair Fix interprets. Economists of all nationalities, when speaking about their area of expertise, have their own words and ways
Covid economics: the European variants
An injection of cash or lockdown and fear? Dirk Ehnts and Michael Paetz look at the options. Last summer, we were mildly optimistic about Europe’s economic response to Covid. It
Interviews
The coarse in economics
Tom Bergin is an award-winning, financial journalist of long standing. He tends to specialise in the seamier side of corporate behaviour, his previous book being on the BP Horizon disaster.
From Russia with luck
A tale of corruption and corridors. The Mint hears how Alena Ledeneva looks for favours. During the final days of the Soviet Union in 1990, a young sociology student in
The growing realisation
Tim Jackson has just published a new book, Post Growth – Life After Capitalism, examining our disastrous obsession with growth in a finite world and how we might escape it.
Columns
What is corruption?
After all, it’s hard to bite the hand that feeds you. As a teenager, I recall my father informing me that to make real money you need to be close
Double parked
Two cars yet nowhere to go. But how did she get where she is? Lockdown has certainly left everyone frazzled. I have been trying to get on with writing my
Biden: his time
The US is lusty and demanding for the future. But can it keep it up? The good news is that Biden, so far, is not your typical machine Democrat who
What’s love got to do with it?
Broken trust has to be fixed. Frances Coppola explains why there is no substitute. The foundation of human society is trust. Right from the start of their lives, humans trust