Jagjit Chadha – What do economists have to offer to policy making?

“A hell of a lot. Whether policymakers take our advice is the real question.”

This year’s WES Presents was kicked off by Professor Jagjit Chadha, director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). In a time where the role of experts seems to be increasingly distrusted in public discourse, he highlighted the value of rigorous economic analysis rather than reductive political sensationalism in the search for the right answers in policy, forecasting and analysis of the past.

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November 13, 2018 0

Race to One Trillion: Amazon’s Affairs in Washington

This is the second part of our analysis of Amazon’s rise to 1 trillion. Today, we look at the changing relations between Amazon and the US political circles.

When a company registers £178 billion revenue and employs 560,000 people, it does not go unseen in Washington’s, London’s or Brussels’ corridors of power. Amazon is no exception. The online retailer’s relation with politics is complex, being alternatively cooperative or detached, but is always functional to profit maximisation. Continue reading “Race to One Trillion: Amazon’s Affairs in Washington” →

October 1, 2018 0

Reflections from the EU Council Summit: Why migration may be the biggest issue in the EU’s history

The bicycle theory is popular in Brussels. It holds that European integration either moves forward or crashes, and it is proving to be an alarmingly precise description of the current health of the EU project.

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July 23, 2018 0

The outcome of the Mexican elections and why it matters

Mexico recently shocked football fans around the world when it defeated Germany in its opening game in the FIFA World Cup. It has also been at the forefront of the global news cycle as the USA’s southern neighbour. Trump’s controversial handling of the immigration issue – through the potential construction of his infamous wall or his recent policy of separating families at the border, is the source of major social and political turmoil in the US and has been discussed heatedly around the world. But now, Mexico is making worldwide news because, on 1st July, the second-largest economy in Latin America took to the polls for the biggest general elections in Mexican history with an expected but unprecedented result of the presidential race.

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July 3, 2018 1

The G20 ten years on: old lessons and new challenges

Mr Kevin Rudd’s vision on the future of the G20 project, which he helped launch in 2008 as the Prime Minister of Australia, must have resonated as a warning to those leaders across the world tempted to withdraw from the international consensus reached 10 years ago in Washington. Continue reading “The G20 ten years on: old lessons and new challenges” →

May 21, 2018 0

How does 2018 look in terms of Charitable Giving?

The situation looks bleak in the UK, USA and Australia. 2018 is a big year for Brexit negotiations. A ‘no-deal’ scenario seems scarily plausible and would result in an estimated loss of half a million jobs and a slowdown of nearly every sector in the British economy. Continue reading “How does 2018 look in terms of Charitable Giving?” →

January 16, 2018 1

My New Year resolution is… protest?

Over the last 70 years, Iran has seen Prime Minister Ali Razmara assassinated, the overthrowing of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq, the exiling of its Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fought in an 8-year war with Iraq, been declared an ‘axis of evil,’ had countless allegations of voting fraud and a myriad of protests and leadership rifts in between. It is a country whose political history is so volatile and uncertain, that they may want to learn Theresa May’s ‘Strong and Stable’ slogan! Continue reading “My New Year resolution is… protest?” →

January 8, 2018 0

Corporate Taxation: one problem, different views

At the top of political agendas in the EU, the UK and the US, as well as among the major concerns of big businesses all over the world, is now taxation. Continue reading “Corporate Taxation: one problem, different views” →

December 18, 2017 0

Will Bitcoin be the next financial bubble?

The price of Bitcoin, the digital currency that is created through a sophisticated process called “mining” and is not printed or regulated by central banks, has risen exponentially over the last weeks and months. At the start of 2017, a Bitcoin was worth less than $1,000. In October it was trading at $5,000, in November it surged Continue reading “Will Bitcoin be the next financial bubble?” →

December 11, 2017 0