VoxTalk Vaults

Rebecca Blank interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 01 August 2008

Major welfare reform legislation passed the US Congress in August 1996 by a broad bipartisan majority and was signed into law by President Clinton. Rebecca Blank of the University of Michigan talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about how US welfare reform has worked out – the successes and the downside – and where it goes next, including comparable policies in Europe. The interview was recorded at the American Economic Association meetings in New Orleans in January 2008.

Philippe Martin interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 01 August 2008

Philippe Martin talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about his research with Thierry Mayer and Mathias Thoenig on the ambiguous relationship between globalisation and war – both civil war and war between states. They find that trade deters severe civil conflicts but fosters less severe ones. And trade created by regional trade agreements is pacifying in terms of wars between states, but greater overall openness has the opposite effect.

Janet Currie interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 01 August 2008

Family background plays a crucial role in children’s outcomes in later life – but what is the specific impact of health in childhood (including in utero) on educational attainment, earnings and the likelihood of being in poverty in adulthood? Janet Currie of Columbia University talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about the latest research evidence. The interview was recorded at the American Economic Association meetings in New Orleans in January 2008.

Carmen Reinhart interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 25 July 2008

Carmen Reinhart, in work with Kenneth Rogoff, has developed a comprehensive new database spanning eight centuries for studying debt and banking crises, inflation, currency crashes and debasements. She talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about the lessons for today’s global financial crisis, noting that although we may not have seen explicit sovereign debt defaults for a while, a growing number of emerging markets are now defaulting through inflation.

Justin Wolfers interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 25 July 2008

Justin Wolfers of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about prediction markets – where they come from; their use in election campaigns and corporate decision-making; how well they perform compared with alternative ways of aggregating information (such as opinion polls or staff meetings); how they can best be designed; and prospects for their application to such areas as geopolitical risks and the spread of disease. The interview was recorded at the American Economic Association meetings in New Orleans in January 2008.

Willem Buiter interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 18 July 2008

Willem Buiter talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about the financial crisis, the global cyclical slowdown and the rise of inflation. He discusses central banks’ responses to the credit crunch and calls on them to tighten monetary policy to counter the inflationary threat.

Robert Stavins interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 18 July 2008

Robert Stavins of Harvard University talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about what should follow the Kyoto Protocol – the potential architectures for a new international agreement on tackling global climate change; lessons from previous international agreements on a range of issues; and the main stumbling blocks to an agreement. The interview was recorded at the American Economic Association meetings in New Orleans in January 2008.

William Cline interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 18 July 2008

William Cline of the Peterson Institute for International Economics talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about climate change – in particular, its impact on developing countries; what economists bring to analysis of carbon mitigation technologies and policies; and the importance of an international agreement on global warming. The interview was recorded at the American Economic Association meetings in New Orleans in January 2008.

Alan M. Taylor interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 11 July 2008

Alan Taylor of the University of California Davis talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about the first era of globalisation and the policy lessons that researchers in economic history and international economics are drawing for contemporary experiences of financial market integration, trade liberalisation and the growth of international reserves. The interview was recorded at the American Economic Association meetings in New Orleans in January 2008.

L Alan Winters interviewed by Romesh Vaitilingam, 11 July 2008

Alan Winters (who was recently appointed chief economist at the UK’s Department for International Development) talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about the current round of world trade negotiations – the benefits of reaching an agreement; the dangers of failure; the conflicting aspirations of different interest groups; and the relationship between trade liberalisation and poverty reduction in developing countries.