VoxTalk Vaults

Jeremiah Dittmar interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 01 October 2010

The movable type printing press was the great innovation in early modern information technology, but until now, little evidence has been found of an impact on growth. Jeremiah Dittmar, who was then at American University in Washington, DC, talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his research, which seems to resolve this precursor of the Solow paradox. The interview was recorded at the annual congress of the European Economic Association in Glasgow in August 2010.

Juan Dolado interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 24 September 2010

Juan Dolado of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about why unemployment in Spain has risen so much higher than elsewhere in Europe during the Great Recession. He discusses the pressing need to address the great divide in the Spanish labour market between permanent and temporary employment contracts. The interview was recorded at the annual congress of the European Economic Association in Glasgow in August 2010.

David O'Sullivan interviewed by Viv Davies, 17 September 2010

David O’Sullivan, Director General for Trade at the European Commission, talks to Viv Davies about the issues and challenges in setting the direction for future EU trade policy. As a contribution to the VoxEU debate on "The future of EU trade policy", O’Sullivan discusses the EU’s responsibility within the world trading system, trade governance and the WTO, the role of reciprocity, the BRICs and the importance of successfully concluding the Doha Development Agenda; he also comments on the issue of ‘multilateralising regionalism’. The interview was recorded on 15 September 2010.

Paul Seabright interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 10 September 2010

Paul Seabright of the Toulouse School of Economics talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his book ‘The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life’, recently issued in a revised version, which applies the ideas about social trust and social fragility to the financial crisis. Among other things, he outlines the three lessons mistakenly learned from the experience of the 1930s. The interview was recorded at the annual congress of the European Economic Association in Glasgow in August 2010.

Eric Chaney interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 03 September 2010

Eric Chaney of Harvard University talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his research on the evolution of institutions in the Islamic world and the relationship with economic development. Among other things, they discuss the rise and fall of Muslim science; and the balance of power between ‘church’ and ‘state’ in times of catastrophe. The interview was recorded at the annual congress of the European Economic Association in Glasgow in August 2010.

Gianmarco Ottaviano interviewed by Viv Davies, 27 August 2010

Gianmarco Ottaviano of Bocconi University talks to Viv Davies about 'The Global Operations of European Firms', a report that analyses data on 15,000 firms in seven countries to show that firm size, productivity, skill intensity and the ability to innovate are associated with better export performance, foreign direct investment and outsourcing. He argues that firms can improve their competitiveness within the European single market, but competing effectively in the future will require more than just exporting to neighbouring EU countries. The interview was recorded in Rome on 19 June 2010.

Viral Acharya interviewed by Viv Davies, 20 August 2010

Viral Acharya talks to Viv Davies about the Dodd-Frank Act and his recent work on capital requirements, market-based measures of systemic risk and stress tests. He highlights the new NYU Stern Systemic Risk Rankings of US financial institutions, which use the Marginal Expected Shortfall (MES) as its basis. Acharya discusses the shortcomings of the Basel III proposals and compares the recent European stress tests with those undertaken in the US. He highlights the importance of international coordination in the areas of derivatives, and agrees that financial reform compliance will require a cultural shift in the banking system.

Xavier Freixas interviewed by Viv Davies, 13 August 2010

Xavier Freixas talks to Viv Davies about the outcome of the recent stress tests undertaken by European banks. Freixas explains his view of the purpose of the tests and why he considers they were successful in spite of criticisms regarding their lack of robustness. He discusses the impact of the tests on the Spanish cajas and the Spanish banking system, and comments on the surge in investment in the activities of European banks following the results of the tests.

Raghuram Rajan interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 06 August 2010

Raghuram Rajan of the University of Chicago talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his book 'Fault Lines', in which he outlines the deep systemic problems in the world economy that threaten further financial crises – high US inequality, patched over by easy credit; excessive stimulus to sustain job creation in times of downturn; and the choices of Germany, Japan and China to focus on export-led growth rather than domestic consumption. The interview was recorded in London in July 2010.

Bernard Hoekman interviewed by Viv Davies, 30 July 2010

Bernard Hoekman of the World Bank talks to Viv Davies about the Vox eBook on rebalancing the global economy. They discuss why imbalances persist, what can be learned from history and the need for a more collective responsibility in responding to the current problem. Hoekman highlights the importance of supply-side factors as well as the implications of imbalances for developing countries. Regarding the current debate on austerity versus stimulus, Hoekman maintains that the real issue is more about timing and coordination. The interview was recorded in July 2010.