Economics

Selling income-contingent stakes in the future earnings of graduates is the best way to address the student debt crisis, says Paul Oslington

Staff over 50 might well wish to stay out of front-line contact with students until a vaccine is found, say Andrew Oswald and Nattavudh Powdthavee

Schools of government have traditionally employed a technocratic approach to preparing public officials. But with polarisation straining political systems to breaking point, Paul Basken reports on calls in the US for more aggressive approaches, while Karthik Ramanna sets out how his Oxford programme attempts to repair the fractures

The Covid-19 pandemic offers universities a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put their dysfunctional strategies behind them, argue Timothy Devinney and Grahame Dowling

As the tools of complexity theory prove crucial in responding to the pandemic, they must be taught far more widely in universities, argues former oil executive turned researcher

Members of the Universities Superannuation Scheme are about to vote on whether to lock in current members. But this might not be enough to safeguard the scheme’s solvency, says Bernard Casey

Educational economist Miguel Urquiola tells Matthew Reisz about the upsides of inequality and the dangers of ‘unbundling’

To stop economic destruction, we need to refocus vast resources from other productive activity – a truly grand prize might do the trick, says Chris Callaghan

As their book about the deep links between education and well-being is published, Anne Case and Nobel laureate Angus Deaton tell John Morgan about their jaw-dropping discoveries of a sharp rise in ‘deaths of despair’ among white American people – and an unhealthy obsession with causality among journals

Stephen Mumford puts his head to the business factors and fantasy finances at the heart of the beautiful game

As the monumental follow-up to his best-selling Capital in the Twenty-First Century is published, the celebrated French economist speaks to Matthew Reisz about why a detailed historical analysis of inequality boosts the case for redistribution – and why academics should join the public debate

Book of the week: Victoria Bateman is impressed by the clear and wide-ranging insights of a Nobel-winning economist and public intellectual

Capping the public contribution to degree costs means universities can’t move to address skills gaps, says David Lloyd

Actions by the current government suggest official discomfort with the basic purpose of public universities, says Jayati Ghosh

The author of The Outsiders: Refugees in Europe since 1492 discusses tracing the rises and falls of empires in atlases, understanding the pain of mass displacements and the pleasure of simultaneously reading and listening to music

Danny Dorling suspects that class remains as meaningful as it always was 

Critics claim that only ‘congenial’ researchers get access to ride-hailing company’s data, while academic co-authors have potential conflicts of interest

Strikes notwithstanding, more pay restraint and greater pensions contributions from UK staff seem unavoidable, writes Bernard Casey

More account must be taken of pregnancy, assisted fertility and miscarriage, say Christina Hellmich and Marina Della Giusta

Esther Duflo aims to secure hearing for ‘ideologically diverse’ discipline in era of Brexit and Trump, hoping it becomes less ‘macho’

Book of the week: Mihir Desai wonders whether a wide-ranging account of the stories economists tell risks throwing out the baby with the bathwater

Tributes paid to an expert on the theory and practice of democratic politics whose ‘intellectual brilliance’ was matched by a strong ‘sense of scholarly camaraderie’

Anti-corruption economist discusses his humble upbringing in Burundi, his five months in solitary confinement, and how his work is shaping global policy

Tributes paid to an academic ‘free spirit’ who applied economic principles to gambling and car parking permits

Esther Duflo – the youngest ever economics Nobelist – shares 2019 prize with Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer

Global tributes paid to a leading expert in industrial relations

Torkel Brekke is unconvinced by a new version of an old argument about the economics of belief

Tributes paid to founder of world-system analysis

Women paid significantly less than men even when they are in the same role, conference hears

Gap in acceptance rates for major European conferences entirely down to behaviour of male referees

Corruption, poverty and inequality can’t be tackled by weakening the state and driving academics abroad, says Mark Aspinwall

Promotion criteria requiring top researchers to also be good teachers and managers undermine the nature of universities, says Andrew Oswald

Asking for higher contributions is painful but unavoidable in such uncertain times, says USS chair Sir David Eastwood

Last year’s scandal over the ministerial vetoing of Australian research grants coincided with the centenary of the fabled principle that politicians should keep out of such decisions. But with governments becoming increasingly ideological and desperate for innovation-fuelled growth, does scientific autonomy have a future? Rachael Pells investigates 

Researcher hopes showing at United Nations will spur further action to help the most disadvantaged artisans

The author of Licence to be Bad on his enduring fascination of how things work and how no one understands what money is

Reviving maintenance grants will redirect taxpayers’ money to those who don’t need it. Better to spend it on lifelong learning, says Ryan Shorthouse

The new president of the Royal Economic Society on the need for economists to be more engaging and why being a woman is an advantage in the field

Falling UK graduate wages reflect not too many students but a flexible labour market’s post-crash adjustment, argues David Willetts

Jörg Michael Dostal considers the complex struggles between economic liberalisation and deliberalisation in three European countries

Royal Holloway professor Jeff Frank back at work after lengthy suspension over ‘farcical’ and ‘non-specific’ charges relating to union activity

Cambridge economist uses nudity to make the case against the UK leaving the European Union and for ‘my body, my choice’

Why other academic disciplines have not also introduced such markets is a ‘very good question’, organisers say

Hefty donations from the mega-rich can worsen and legitimise inequality, finds Linsey McGoey

Analysis of impact of doctoral training centres funded by Economic and Social Research Council prompts further questions over approach to postgraduate learning

Academic at Thompson Rivers University was banned from campus after revealing his colleagues’ wide use of predatory journals

That the market today makes many people vulnerable is clear, but it’s unclear that all would fare better without the market, says Victoria Bateman

Find out which institutions are best in the world for social sciences, business and economics, education and law

Two Americans share prize for their work on climate change, innovation and economic growth

The capital value of slaves made it possible for white livelihoods to flourish, writes Martin Myers

For most young Australians, a bachelor’s degree remains a wise investment, says Andrew Norton

Countries around the world are increasingly seeing the benefits of a compromise between free fees and income-contingent loans, say Alex Usher and Robert Burroughs

Tributes paid to Yale’s pioneering game theorist

German students – and academics – still go along with controversial mainstream theories in order to get ahead, researcher argues

Lawyer says Spanish warrant means that economics professor remains an ‘exile’

It’s time to make honest women out of the bodies that rescued the banks, argues Sir Howard Davies

Female economists less likely to collaborate widely, study finds

Gender gap at professorial level is largely down to fewer women applying, so default application system could be a solution, researcher suggests

A trio of dissenting voices echo through history in this timely, vivid book, writes Fred Inglis

The former LSE director tells Matthew Reisz that colleagues at Sciences Po sense an opportunity in Brexit, that the French should not fret over league tables and that academics, policymakers and bankers must talk more