investment

  For half a century, advanced economies systematically lowered taxes on savings and investment to raise productivity and wages. Concerns about the growth of artificial intelligence may be unwinding that consensus among some pundits and policymakers. For example, a widely read Wall Street Journal column argues that the answer to AI fears is to tax […]

  For decades, private equity (PE) has been lauded as a superior form of capitalism, a bastion of entrepreneurial vigor amid sclerotic public corporations. The value proposition − generate high returns by transforming companies through operational improvements, strategic growth and financial optimization, rather than relying on market trends − was, and remains, intuitively powerful. After […]

  Over the past 25 years, the relationship between China and Latin America has undergone a dramatic shift. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, in 2000, China accounted for less than 2 percent of Latin America’s exports. Over the next eight years, trade grew at an annual rate of 31 percent. By 2021, bilateral […]

We are pleased to announce a new collaboration between the Institute for Research in Economic and Fiscal Issues (IREF) and the European Center for Austrian Economics Foundation (ECAEF), focused on publishing a series of articles on economic and fiscal topics. It emphasizes our commitment to independent thought, academic freedom, and critical inquiry.   Introduction Governments […]

    In March 2025, the European Commission unveiled what it describes as a transformative initiative: the Savings and Investment Union (SIU). In a comprehensive document, President Ursula von der Leyen’s team outlined a plan to mobilize fresh, primarily private sources of capital to finance strategic investments across Europe. Europe’s investment shortfall The SIU can be […]