Public Policy

Only creative destruction will boost competitiveness
2025 Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion explains how advanced economies in Europe (or elsewhere) can find their way back to the technological frontier

Will China forcibly boost fertility?
Yi Fuxian thinks the positive effects of incentives to boost China's fertility rate will be temporary while more coercive measures are unlikely

Can AI be Asia's next growth engine?
Asia’s growth model is under intense strain, and rapid population aging will only make matters worse. But Lee Jong-Wha thinks the key to maintaining its momentum will be adopting AI, building human capital, and a framework of enabling institutions

Record numbers of younger women want to leave the US
Gallup polling shows that the desire to migrate among younger American women has quadrupled in the past decade - that's now 26 mln women who want to leave

Trump's dangerous liaison with Pakistan
Brahma Chellaney warns that flattery and the promise of personal enrichment are now driving US policy in South Asia

Is Bessent right about the Fed?
Willem Buiter consider the US central Bank's failings in light of recent criticism from the US secretary of the Treasury

RBA holds again, even as inflation worries mount
RBA holds again but starts to worry about inflation pressure they can no longer ignore. They are hoping those pressure are transitory

Supply-chain economics beats tariff politics
Jun Du explains how US trade policy has devastated American soybean farmers, and why the damage will be permanent

India's economy is stronger than Trump thinks
Shang-Jin Wei explains how India can turn recent setbacks into opportunities and extend its growth miracle

This time the RBA holds its fire
Despite growing signs of inflation rising and strongish labour markets, the RBA has held its cash rate target at 3.6% as widely expected

How can we account for crypto?
Tim Congdon highlights the challenges facing statisticians as opaque transactions erode trust in official data

South Korea's baby bust
Lee Jong-Wha asks how South Korea with the world's lowest fertility rate can avert demographic collapse

The US Fed's wrong move
Michael Strain argues that US interest rate cuts this year will have to be reversed in 2026 as inflation re-accelerates

IMF analysis shows a decline in private lending offsets increases in public borrowing; notable differences persist across countries and income groups
IMF analysis shows a decline in private lending offsets increases in public borrowing; notable differences persist across countries and income groups

India's reckoning with its dangerous neighbourhood
Nirupama Rao explains why India is increasingly anxious about political stability in neighboring countries

The twilight of Pax Americana
Koichi Hamada cannot see US leadership recovering from Donald Trump's bullying of trade partners

Global trade is winning Trump's war on it
Daniel Gros points out that even US import demand seems to be withstanding the introduction of tariffs

Indonesian democracy on the brink
Lili Yan Ing urges policymakers in Indonesia to cut waste, strengthen oversight, and ensure fair access to jobs and security to prevent an uncontrollable populist explosion

What if we have it all backwards?
Slow productivity growth is now recognised as not requiring tight monetary policy to keep demand in check. But Luci Ellis asks what if tight monetary (and other) policies make productivity worse?

Can democracy survive AI?
Ian Bremmer expects the next wave of technological innovation to favour closed, consolidated political systems

An economic roundtable – talkfest or catalyst for real reform?
Ross Stitt previews the upcoming Australian national economic roundtable and wonders if expectations have been set too high, whether its a Pandora's box they may regret

This time the RBA pulls the trigger
After the July misfire, the Australian central bank cuts its cash rate target by -25 bps to 3.60%. Markets price in two more similar cuts by years end, and another in early 2026


