VoxTalk Vaults

Albert Marcet interviewed by Viv Davies, 04 March 2011

Albert Marcet of the London School of Economics explains to Viv Davies why predictions of potential Spanish sovereign default are misguided. Marcet presents his views on Spain’s fiscal sustainability, its unemployment and housing problems, the autonomous regions and the recapitalisation of the cajas. He also discusses debt and fiscal coordination in the eurozone and comments on his new role as scientific chair of the Euro Area Business Cycle Network (EABCN). The interview was recorded in London in February 2011.

David Miles interviewed by Viv Davies, 25 February 2011

David Miles of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee talks to Viv Davies about ‘Monetary Policy in Extraordinary Times’, a speech he delivered in London on 23 February 2011. Two very large shocks have hit the UK economy – the near collapse of the banking system and, more recently, a sharp increase in commodity, energy and food prices. The first shock is deflationary, the second inflationary. Miles discusses how best to set monetary policy in the wake of these shocks and analyses how regulation and monetary policy can most effectively reduce the likelihood of future financial instability.

Josh Lerner interviewed by Viv Davies, 18 February 2011

Josh Lerner of Harvard Business School talks to Viv Davies about his book, co-authored with Mark Schankerman, ‘The Comingled Code: Open Source and Economic Development’. Lerner discusses the economic impact of open source software and its relationship with innovation and growth. Drawing from a new database, Lerner describes how open source and proprietary software interact and suggests how government policy should ensure that open source competes effectively with proprietary software. The interview was recorded by telephone on 14 February 2011.

Carol Propper interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 11 February 2011

Britain’s coalition government is proposing significant healthcare reforms, which include promoting greater competition between providers and changing the way that care is commissioned. Carol Propper of the Centre for Market and Public Organisation talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about the evidence for some of the claims and counterclaims about the likely impact of the reforms. The interview was recorded at the University of Bristol in February 2011.

Peter Sutherland interviewed by Viv Davies, 04 February 2011

Peter Sutherland, former director general of the World Trade Organization, talks to Viv Davies about the recently published interim report on ‘The Doha Round: Setting a deadline, defining a final deal’. He explains why Doha has stalled and presents the case for its immediate completion. He maintains it is crucial that governments now commit to concluding Doha by the end of 2011 or else the round is doomed and all that has been achieved will be lost, with disastrous consequences for world trade. The interview was recorded by telephone on 1 February 2011.

Marco Del Negro interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 28 January 2011

Marco Del Negro of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his research with Gauti Eggertsson, Andrea Ferrero and Nobuhiro Kiyotaki on the macroeconomic impact of the Fed’s non-standard monetary policies. Their simulations suggest that these policy interventions were effective in stabilising the economy, to the point that they might have prevented a repeat of the Great Depression in 2008-09. The interview, which was recorded at the annual congress of the European Economic Association in Glasgow in August 2010, represents Marco Del Negro’s personal views.

Sanjeev Goyal interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 21 January 2011

Sanjeev Goyal of the University of Cambridge talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his research on social networks. He describes the significance and potential downside of the ‘law of the few’, whereby social groups typically rely on information from a very small number of ‘opinion leaders’ to inform their economic decision-making. The interview was recorded at the annual congress of the European Economic Association in Glasgow in August 2010.

Kevin O'Rourke interviewed by Viv Davies, 14 January 2011

Kevin O’Rourke of Trinity College Dublin talks to Viv Davies about Ireland in crisis and explains how it moved so suddenly from being the ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy to financial meltdown. O’Rourke describes Ireland’s reaction to the bailout, outlines the potential implications for the country and discusses the shortcomings of the European policy response. The interview was recorded by telephone on 13 January 2011.

Aloysius Siow interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 24 December 2010

Menopause – or post-reproductive survival – is rare among mammals and, from an evolutionary perspective, anomalous since it reduces consumption for current offspring without producing future offspring. Aloysius Siow of the University of Toronto talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his theory of menopause, which is based on the fact that, unlike other mammals, humans understand the reproductive process. The interview was recorded at the Centre for Market and Public Organisation in Bristol in October 2010.

Joel Waldfogel interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 23 December 2009

Joel Waldfogel of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his new book, Scroogenomics. They discuss his measurements of the deadweight loss of Christmas gift giving over time and across countries, the motivations that people have for giving, and his ideas for encouraging charitable giving at the holidays. The interview was recorded in London in December 2009.