Reports of Professor Enrico Colombatto
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The problem with patents
Governments around the world are proposing removing patent protections from vaccines and subsidizing the companies that lose out. But if it hadn't been for patents restricting free markets in the first place, we would likely have more, cheaper vaccines than we do today. Professor Enrico Colombatto explains why patent protection ...
How ‘functional finance’ becomes heavier taxation
Today’s advocates of Modern Monetary Theory are following in the footsteps of Abba Lerner, an economist who advocated monetizing debt to achieve full employment. Heeding their call to keep printing money until social goals are met can only lead to more taxation – and potentially a heavy burden on the ...
American financial markets and the specter of inflation
The policies of easy money, unlimited public indebtedness and indiscriminate subsidies make fertile ground for inflation. Are the jittery financial markets signaling that the U.S. and several other Western economies are approaching the end of the long free ride – profligacy with neither reimbursements nor inflation? And what if that ...
The hidden repercussions of public debt in the West
Europe and the U.S. share a common commitment to monetization: their central banks buy much of the debt issued by the government. However, while the share of European bonds in the hands of non-European investors is limited, the portion of U.S. Treasuries held abroad is significant. GIS economic expert Enrico ...
GameStop and the future of financial markets
The story of what happened with GameStop shares in January is simple: certain investors made the wrong bet and lost. The market worked just as it should have. Regulators and many established financial players do not see it that way, though. Already, they are working together, using the episode to ...
New opportunities 2021: Asia’s push in international trade
The 2020 proportional decline in trade was twice as large as the decline of world GDP, but a strong rebound can be expected and international trade will drive global growth in 2021. The good news is that policymakers have taken steps to undo at least some of the trade restrictions ...
Fast growth in 2021, but not for everybody
Many forecast that 2021 will be characterized by vigorous growth and that, by the end of the coming year, the world economy will have recovered from the 2020 losses. The author takes a more discriminating view and argues that only a few countries, China among them, will be back on ...
The WHO may be Covid-19’s next victim
The World Health Organization did poorly in living up to its responsibilities at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Much of this can be put down to its leader, who had a mixed record coming into his position and seems to be heavily backed by China. The future of this ...
