savings and growth
An increase in the rate of saving produces a once-and-for-all increase in output, with no increase in the rate of growth. This follows from the Solow growth model, named after the MIT economist who...
View Articlefalling mortality rates
Improved health, reflected in greater life expectancy and lower rates of mortality, is without doubt one of the most important achievements of humanity over the last two centuries. These gains have...
View Articlethe human capital controversy
Back in the 1960s there was a famous debate between economists (led by Joan Robinson and Piero Sraffa) of the University of Cambridge in England and economists (led by Paul Samuelson and Robert Solow)...
View Articledoes human (and physical) capital exist?
In the heated bloggers’ debate over human capital, I was surprised by the absence of discussion of how to measure human capital, a point that was crucial in the earlier “Cambridge controversy” over...
View ArticleEdmund Phelps on the economic crisis in Europe
Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps (born 1933) writes that the economic crisis that much of Europe faces is due not so much to a reduced supply of labour (the view of classical economists) or insufficient...
View Articlemathiness in economic growth theory
“Truthiness” was coined a decade ago by television satirist Stephen Colbert. A Wikipedia article (retrieved 7 June 2015) defines it as a quality characterizing a “truth” that a person making an...
View Articleefficient financial markets?
Economists cannot agree on whether asset markets are efficient or not. This has very important policy implications. Freelance writer Anna Louie Sussman interviews New York University economist Paul...
View Articlepopulation ageing and economic growth
Pundits frequently warn us to avoid population ageing, because of its negative effect on economic growth. FT reader Simon Ross, in contrast, sees population ageing as an opportunity to be seized. An...
View Articledevelopment goals and development strategies
Following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, all UN member states and many international organizations pledged to contribute to achievement of eight Millennium Development Goals...
View ArticleChina’s economic growth prospects
FT columnist Martin Wolf is very optimistic regarding China’s long-run prospects. The important economic fact about China is its past achievements. Gross domestic product (at purchasing power parity)...
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