This article was featured in the INOMICS Handbook 2017, a new career guide for Economists. Download it here. 

In the midst of the destruction it’s wrought, the lives and livelihoods it’s taken, and freedom it’s limited, COVID-19 has given us one thing that may yet prove positive - the opportunity to reflect. Under lockdown, we’ve been compelled to consider our pre-COVID lives, the aspects we valued, the parts we endured, and how things could be changed. Separation from reality has renewed our perspective. And it’s come at a convenient time, for a choice hangs in the air. With swathes of the economy on life-support, and recession hitting, we have the opportunity to choose which areas we preserve, and which we let perish. Ultimately, we must decide on which values our future economies are built. As climate catastrophe looms large, the stakes could not be higher.

The following article first appeared in the INOMICS Handbook 2023. Download the INOMICS Handbook

It’s not uncommon for those in field of economics research to feel a little hesitant about the idea of “marketing” themselves. After all, you’re not really selling a product—you’re sharing valuable knowledge so that other people can benefit from it. But if you want others to take notice of that knowledge in the first place, you’ll need to take some steps towards promoting your work.

The following article first appeared in the INOMICS Handbook 2022. Download the INOMICS Handbook While every generation claims its problems are the most formidable and pressing in the annals of humankind, our generation certainly has a strong case: a global pandemic that has already taken five million lives, and a world seemingly headed toward catastrophe, unable to keep global temperatures from rising and thus contain climate change.

As the world is ravaged by COVID-19, governments everywhere are enjoying burgeoning support. A glance at approval ratings finds presidents, prime ministers, even autocrats, overwhelmingly popular, in some instances irrespective of their actual performance. Of course, this is unsurprising: there’s long been a history of populations coalescing around established leaders in times of crisis. Amid uncertainty, we find their increased visibility reassuring. Speaking to the nation they look competent and confident; we feel inclined to trust them, and more often than not, we do.