Articles

• How China's Boom Caused the Financial Crisis
  And why it matters today.
  Since the 2008 financial crisis, Wall Street has been the perpetual whipping boy for the ensuing recession that has rocked the global economy.
• The Perils of Loose Living
  For decades, Americans have looked to monetary policy as an engine of economic growth -- and suffered the dire consequences.
• Are Chinese individuals prone to money illusion?
  Are the Chinese prone to money illusion? This column uses a unique Chinese dataset and finds that, unlike their American counterparts, Chinese people are more likely to base decisions on the real value and not be fooled by inflation.
  
• The global saving glut will hold bond yields down
  As fears mount of another phase in the global crisis, this column points out that despite the growing uncertainty, US Treasury and German Bund yields have actually declined in recent weeks. The reason, it argues, is the global saving glut theory.
• Lost in transmission
  With the US economy still faltering, some are suggesting it may be time for a third round of quantitative easing.
• Beware of runaway headline inflation
  The latest figures from the US show that the consumer price index rose 0.5% in March, whilst the core personal consumption expenditure price index rose only 0.1%.
• US monetary policy and the saving glut
  Is US easy monetary policy in the early 2000s to blame for the global saving glut? This column argues that the Federal Reserve's policy triggered the refinancing boom and ensuing spending spree, which spurred economic growth and savings in China.
• The False Panacea of Labor-Market Flexibility
  Competitiveness has become one of the economic buzzwords of our time. Barack Obama trumpeted it during his State of the Union address in January, and European leaders from the Tory David Cameron in Britain to the Socialist José Luis Zapatero in Spain to Japan’s new Minister of Economics Kaoru Yosano have embraced it as a priority.
• Germany Is Not China
  There is little dispute that global imbalances in trade and capital flows are at least partly to blame for the financial crisis and ensuing recession that have rocked the world economy since 2008.
• Don't blame the euro
  With all the turbulence rocking the financial markets and the sharp drop in the euro’s exchange rate, you could almost forget that the single European currency has been quite a success.
  
• Going Dutch? Not So Fast! in The New York Times
  The Dutch welfare state isn’t as beneficial to low-skilled immigrants as it is to high-skilled workers like Mr. Shorto.
  
• Going Dutch? Not So Fast!
  NRC columnist Heleen Mees begs to disagree with Russell Shorto's raving article in The New York Times about the benefits of living in the Dutch welfare state.
• Does Legalizing Prostitution Work?
  Prostitution is virtually the only part of the personal services industry in the Netherlands that works.
  
• Why We Must Break The Male Cartel
  The past few weeks have offered some stunning samples of female leadership. Angela Merkel's jaw-dropping neckline.
  
• The Cost of the Gender Gap
  The wage disparity between men and women is more than unjust. It is also economically harmful.
• China Is Buying Europe
  While the West thought that free trade was going to spread democracy across the world, the opposite seems to be happening now.
• Beyond The Gender Gap
  To reap the full fruits of women’s talents, they must be in more top jobs.
• Europe’s Leisure Trap
  In Europe, black Saturday falls in the last weekend of July, when the Europeans set off in droves for their Mediterranean holiday destinations.
• Affirmative Action for Europe
  The brutal murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh have made Europe’s failure to integrate its minorities painfully clear (together with Rick van der Ploeg).