The 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, more commonly known as the Nobel Prize in Economics, has been awarded to three influential economists this year - Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. The prize – worth 11 million Swedish crowns, or about $1 million or roughly €950,000 – was awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for their ‘studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity’ (Ricciuti), providing critical insights into why some countries achieve higher per capita incomes and others struggle with persistent economic challenges. Their work also emphasizes the importance of establishing robust institutions to support sustainable economic growth and social stability.

The holiday season is coming and Christmas is just around the corner. If you want to avoid buying presents for the holidays in a panic, you had better get to planning the gifts you'll be giving.

Staying informed on economic trends, policies, and research is key to gaining valuable insights into the ever-changing global economy. Whether you're an economics student, educator, or enthusiast, exploring different viewpoints is essential. Economics bloggers and podcasters come in all forms—some are academics like Gregory Mankiw and Paul Krugman, while others are insightful thought leaders like John Cochrane and Tyler Cowen. Their expertise spans from real estate to public policy and macroeconomic trends.

Employability is a key concern for students, educators and employers in the UK. Indeed, many students want to see employability playing a bigger role in their courses. One way in which universities can foster graduate employability is through work-based learning (WBL) programmes, such as work placements.

Almost everyone has heard of Pokémon: it’s the highest-grossing media franchise in the world1. The core concept is also familiar to most people – in the Pokémon world, quasi-magical creatures live alongside people in idyllic, family-friendly harmony. 

Imagine this: you're trying to solve a complex puzzle where every piece represents a different facet of economic performance. Now, imagine that the shape of some of these pieces are influenced by the quality of the institutions in place—things like governance, legal frameworks, and anti-corruption measures. As it turns out, the fit of these pieces can make or break the overall picture of economic growth. Institutions, in this sense, are not just background players; they are fundamental to how the economic puzzle comes together.

The Sustainable Development Goals advocate ensuring universal access to clean and affordable energy by 2030, prompting a global push toward transitioning from unclean energy sources to cleaner alternatives. In response, Ghana has subsidized the cost of clean energy; however, the financial burden of this transition remains substantial for households. The role of household asset accumulation in facilitating this transition has been underexplored in existing literature; examples include Kafle and Dean (2015) and Ansong (2015). Utilizing logistic and instrumental variables (IV) regression methods along with data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey (round 6 & 7), I investigated how durable asset accumulation influences households' choice of cooking fuels in the research paper "The Nexus Between Household Durable Asset Accumulation And Household Cooking Fuel Choice in a Developing Country".

Attending university can be a ton of fun, but it’s also supposed to prepare you for the next stage in your career. Normally, this involves a lot of studying. But breaks and hobbies are important to have, too.

In today’s world, the discipline of economics finds itself at an inflection point. The mainstream orthodoxy, often criticised for being made up of half-truths, is starting to unravel. As a result, a transformative shift is happening.

Is it possible to reinvigorate under-developed regions by turning the public’s penchant for gambling into a force for economic growth? That is one of the questions asked by labor policy economist Luigino Giliberto in his debut book, Athena’s Reasons (currently offered in Italian). The book details a model of regional economic growth that aims to reinvigorate Italy’s less developed areas, inspired by the ancient Greek goddess Athena.

Everyone’s heard of micro- and macroeconomics. The two terms are so deeply ingrained in the world of economics that even lay people generally know what they refer to. Almost everything economists analyze can be arguably given one of these labels.

Aspiring economists may be curious to know: how much do economists earn in different types of jobs? The INOMICS Salary Report contains a wealth of data about economist pay by job title and region (among many other factors). This article takes Salary Report data on salaries by job title and analyzes it from a new angle, including highest degree earned, which will help younger economists to plan their career path.

The following article first appeared in the INOMICS Handbook 2024.Download the INOMICS Handbook“The master-economist must possess a rare combination of gifts. He must reach a high standard in several different directions and must combine talents not often found together. He must be mathematician, historian, statesman, philosopher…He must study the present in the light of the past for the purposes of the future. No part of man's nature or his institutions must lie entirely outside his regard. He must be purposeful and disinterested in a simultaneous mood; as aloof and incorruptible as an artist, yet sometimes as near the earth as a politician.”– John Maynard Keynes

The following article first appeared in the INOMICS Handbook 2024.Download the INOMICS HandbookProfessor Marcel Fratzscher, esteemed macroeconomist and president of the DIW Berlin, once again asks questions about economics and life in general to a peer in the 2024 edition of the INOMICS Handbook Questionnaire. This time, he poses the questions to Dr. Olivier Blanchard, a prominent macroeconomist, who graciously took to the spotlight in this latest round. Thus, the back-and-forth has been dubbed Fratzscher vs. Blanchard, as is tradition. Dr. Blanchard offers us some interesting food for thought: the interview touches on the joy of conducting research with former students, the sometimes counterintuitive things we learn from economics, an analysis of Real Business Cycle Theory, and more.

Completing an economics degree course is hard enough. But after you’ve earned your degree, you may very well begin to look for a job in economics, which is a whole new type of challenge!

Alfred Marshall is a famous economist who made great contributions to the field when it was still relatively new towards the end of the 19th century. Yet, students often learn about important figures in economics only briefly and in passing, although the content taught in economics courses often comes from brilliant economists such as Marshall.

This article overviews different types of economics skills training courses and discusses how course organizers and recruiters can make sure their programs get seen and attract the right talent. If you’re looking to better serve the economics alumni from your degree programs, build a pipeline of potential PhD candidates, or just attract more attention to the professional training courses you offer, keep reading for more.

There are many schools of thought in economics. Each rallies around one or more different theories about how the world works, and builds models to support those theories and explain the economy. These schools include the (neo)classical, (neo)Keynesian, monetarist, and Chicago schools. Readers may have heard about the Austrian school of thought as well. 

It’s your first day at work and you’re nervous, naturally. You decide to quickly remember the journey that brought you to the computer screen you are now looking at. Many INOMICS readers will relate to this journey.

Economics can be used to study almost anything, including popular music. For example, the late Alan Krueger analyzed the music industry, examining live concert revenue, copyright protection, and streaming services in the book Rockonomics. Similarly, economics can offer insights about heavy metal specifically, a type of rock music characterized by loud distorted guitars, intense rhythms, and powerful vocal styles.