Reports of Professor Enrico Colombatto
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China: Bureaucrats crack under pressure
After decades of generous monetary policy, China announced it would take a more moderate approach. But policymakers have now realized that future growth will be lower than needed, that inflation is about to rise and that a more rigorous monetary policy may be a source of tensions and possible crisis. ...
The impact of antitrust demagoguery
Leaders in the West are ramping up antitrust activity, finding ways to scapegoat big, innovative companies for societies’ economic woes. The move correlates with a rise in anti-capitalist sentiment and the desire to harmonize global taxation. How big tech firms change to adapt – by moving abroad or changing production ...
The roots of the global corporate tax debate
Ongoing efforts to harmonize corporate taxation across borders are a recipe for more public expenditure and slower growth. But the debate also misses the fundamental absurdity of all corporate taxes, and the reasons why policymakers insist on ever raising them.
Labor markets after Covid
The global economy is bouncing back from Covid-19 and gearing up to speed ahead. But as it races forward, forces in the labor market will further polarize workers. Those that have the hard skills to work with high-tech machinery and software will benefit, while those who do not will be ...
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 ...
