And What We Can Do About It Writing about the climate challenge, French economist Jean Tirole frames the problem brilliantly: âThe benefits of reducing climate change remain global and distant in time, while the costs of that reduction are local and immediate.â (Economics for the Common Good, p. 199) Why would any country take costly… Read more >
When I was an economics professor (which was a long time ago), I often invited students in introductory classes to play a simple game. They were instructed to choose âHeadsâ or âTailsâ and secretly write their choice on a sticky note, while I randomly sorted the class into pairs. If the choices made by any… Read more >
Over the past few decades, globalizationâthe closer integration of countries and peoplesâhas been a powerful engine of economic growth, improving global health and lifting millions out of poverty, as well as increasing efficiency. Expanding cross-border collaborations and knowledge exchanges have empowered countries to address critical societal issues. However, globalization has also been blamed for widening… Read more >
In the car, halfway to school, my son lifted his eyes from the phone long enough to say, âDid you know, in Japan, workers who get to the office early park farther away, leaving the closer spots for others that come later?â I didnât know. And, because Iâm never quite sure where my son gets… Read more >
It is a good idea to collect data about the outcomes of heart surgeries and make it available to the public. Report cards help patients find the best hospitals and doctors, while the providers have an incentive to improve quality. Makes perfect sense, doesnât it. Well, in a paper I read a little more than… Read more >
âYou canât stop technological change, but you can shape it.â That is the key message of Power and Progress according to its authors, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. After researching 1,000 years of technological change, the authors conclude that, contrary to widespread âtechno-optimism,â advances in technology do not automatically translate into broad-based prosperity. If we… Read more >
Ancient civilizations, on the grounds of modern-day Egypt, pushed the boundaries of technology, giving the world breakthrough advances in mathematics, medicine, engineering, and more. Today, the city that never sleepsââCairoââis alive with 22+ million people who are young, diverse, and increasingly entrepreneurial. It is a city with a distinctive, modern vibe that still feels deeply… Read more >
âYour responses suggested a strong automatic association for male with leader and female with supporter.â That was the message displayed immediately after I completed the Implicit Association Test on Gender and Leadership (IAT). That was many years ago and the message is still etched in my mind. To say I was exasperated by the results… Read more >
If you are a parent and, like me, anxious to get better at it, you probably know about the carpenter and gardener metaphor popularized by Alison Gopnik, a professor at the University of California Berkeley. Being a carpenter, she says, is about molding a child into an adult who has a particular set of characteristics…. Read more >
âNÄu te rourou, nÄku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwiâ is a MÄori proverb, or whakatauki. It translates into âwith your food basket and my food basket the people will thriveâ and carries my humble holiday message to the GBSN community. To be sure, Iâm not an expert on MÄori, People of the Land… Read more >
