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From Development Aid to Mutual Aid: The Argument for Localized Solutions

03.9.21

We must revisit the question of alternatives to development aid. Amid the crisis of the pandemic, mutual aid, which has been utilized as a political survival tactic throughout history, has re-emerged as an alternative to institutional aid. How can this concept be applied to the development context?

Germany Drew the Wrong Lessons From Its 1923 Hyperinflation

05.12.20

In recent years, the political discourse in Germany has been critical of the European Union and its institutions. This includes harsh criticism of the European Central Bank (ECB) regarding its response to the Euro crisis. One focal point of this criticism related to the ECB’s purchases of government debt, particularly its program of “Outright Monetary […]

How the US should respond to Xi’s assertive China

11.7.19

The unprecedented rise of China has been one of the most notable geopolitical phenomena of the last century. China’s decision to open up to the global economy in the 1980s sparked an economic miracle that has fueled growth for the past three decades, making it the world’s second-largest economy. But the country today harbors greater […]

One Size Does Not Fit All: The Rise of Tailor-Made Economic Policies

10.20.17

BY HUBERT WU Many major shortcomings of economic policy making can be attributed to an over-reliance on “one-size-fits-all” policies that ignore differences in countries, industries, and individuals. Until the early 21st century, the accepted means to increase the wealth of developing countries centered on a set of largely standardized policy prescriptions. At the industry level, […]

Development and Economic Growth

Why Calling China a Currency Manipulator in 2017 Misses the Mark

04.17.17

BY HAIYANG ZHANG The Trump Administration recently retracted its promise to label China as a currency manipulator—and rightly so. While there was merit to such a claim ten or twenty years ago, labeling China a currency manipulator in 2017 simply misses the mark. In its semiannual foreign exchange report presented to the Congress on April […]

Sweet Nothings: The History, Law, and Economics of American Sugar Subsidies

03.18.16

BY KARL T. MUTH AND KATHERYN R. DEVELVIS What sugar we see in candies and packets at restaurants pales in comparison to that which we do not see in processed foods and drinks. Likewise, the prices we pay for sugar at the grocer’s counter are only the tip of the iceberg compared to the camouflaged […]

Public Finance

Interview with Minister Hedi Larbi: International Monetary Institutions and Reform in Tunisia

01.8.16

In Fall 2015, JMEPP Co-Editor-in-Chief Kristin Wagner interviewed Hedi Larbi, Former Minister of Economic Infrastructure and Sustainable Development and a visiting scholar at the Middle East Initiative at Harvard’s Belfer Center. Below is an excerpt from the interview on the role of international monetary institutions in contributing to Tunisia’s future prospects. Other topics covered include measuring Tunisia’s success […]

Public Finance

The Importance of Wall Street Reform for Latinos

08.12.15

While the recession devastated all Americans, Latinos were among those most severely affected, losing two thirds of all their wealth, mainly due to plummeting housing values.

Gender, Race and Identity

Religionomics: Cultivating an Asian Perspective for Global Leaders

02.19.15

“Western rational thought is not an innate human characteristic; it is learned and is the great achievement of Western civilization.  In the villages of India, they never learned it.  They learned something else, which is in some ways just as valuable but in other ways not.  That’s the power of intuition and experiential wisdom.”  –Steve […]

Gender, Race and Identity

Is It Only Doom and Gloom? Demography and the Future of Millennials

12.18.14

BY TOBIAS PETER In the developed world, parents have come to expect that living standards will rise for their children. A recent poll, however, reveals disturbingly low percentages of people living in developed countries who believe this will be true for millennials, the generation born between the early 1980s and early 2000s.  Especially striking is […]

Gender, Race and Identity

Social Finance: Sorting Hope from Hype

08.9.14

BY JULIA FETHERSTON ADAM SMITH WOULD HAVE BEEN mystified by the bankers, government officials, analysts, and activists assembled in the City of London for the inaugural G8 Meeting on Social Impact Investment, a meeting convened at the behest of U.K. Conservative Party Prime Minister David Cameron. Smith, the pioneer of free market political economy, wrote […]

The Rise of a Narrative: Thomas Piketty at the Kennedy School

04.25.14

  BY JOSH RUDOLPH The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. – John Maynard Keynes Friday afternoons tend to be subdued affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. But the afternoon […]

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