Essays & News

On September 9-10, the G20 summit took place in India, giving the leaders of the world’s largest economies the chance to meet in a relatively informal setting. Established in 1999, the Group of 20 initially aimed to coordinate global economic activity, with a strong ambition to centralize decision-making on a global scale. It maintains a close partnership […]

The original version of this post is co-authored with Emilio Ocampo. In 1976, the renowned economist Robert Lucas (1937-2023) introduced a thought-provoking paper that reshaped economic analysis. Lucas argued against relying solely on historical data to predict the outcomes of changes in economic policy, particularly when dealing with aggregate variables like consumption and investment. According to […]

Recent scenes of violence, chaos and looting in various French cities this summer certainly suggest a problem of “de-civilization.” However, the country faces another “de” issue – deindustrialization – and the two might be connected to some extent. Deindustrialization means a diminishing of industries, industrial jobs and industrial companies in the economy, with a declining […]

  Alfredo Arízaga, who served as the Minister of Finance during Ecuador’s dollarization, offers insights on a key topic discussed in former President Jamil Mahuad’s book, “Así dolarizamos Ecuador” (translated as “How We Dollarized Ecuador”). Some have questioned whether dollarization was simply a response to the economic crisis of 1999. Arízaga firmly believes it was […]

  Between August 22 and 25, the BRICS – a loose association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – held a summit in Johannesburg that made plenty of waves. Aside from the five main countries, some 30 other developing nations were invited to participate. “BRICS is a diverse group of nations,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa of […]