ECONOMIC AFFAIRS最新文献

A government differs from a robber, but they share the common feature of initiating coercion. This similarity has been noticed by libertarians as well as within a distinct scholarly tradition and as a recurring theme throughout Western philosophy. Twentieth-century political economists have employed this comparison to understand state formation and institutional behaviour. Philosophers from ancient Greece to the Enlightenment have recognised the fundamental similarities between governmental and criminal coercion in the context of examining questions of legitimacy and justice. The government–robber comparison has been an analytical tool of accepted standing throughout Western intellectual history that deserves contemporary consideration.

The European football (soccer) market increasingly funnels rents to superstar players and intermediaries while weakening competitive balance. We trace this dynamic to two forces: (a) technological innovation that globalised broadcasting and magnified superstar returns, and (b) legal rulings boosting player mobility and causing bidding wars. The 2024 Diarra ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union further loosens transfer constraints, and will likely intensify talent concentration at ‘superclubs’. The result is soaring salaries and transfer fees, persistent financial fragility among non-elite clubs, and growing predictability of match outcomes. We evaluate reform options that preserve Europe's open-league tradition yet borrow from North American competitive-balance tools: greater revenue sharing, hard/soft salary caps, and draft-like mechanisms. These should be complemented by a ‘cartel tax’ to fund youth sport, and club-governance codes plus credible financial-sustainability rules.

The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a profound global economic crisis, compelling the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India to implement extensive fiscal and monetary measures to mitigate its adverse effects and stimulate recovery. This article provides an in-depth assessment of India's post-pandemic economic recovery efforts, evaluating the efficacy of fiscal stimulus and monetary interventions. By analysing policy frameworks, key economic indicators, and empirical data, the study examines the impact of government spending, tax incentives, interest rate adjustments, and liquidity measures on overall recovery. It also critically analyses the trajectory of inflation, public debt, and economic inequality in the post-pandemic period. While expansionary policies helped prevent a prolonged downturn, concerns over fiscal sustainability, rising amounts of non-performing assets, and income disparities remain. Addressing these disparities requires targeted policy measures that focus on long-term resilience and structural reforms.

From 1789 to 1803, Sweden experienced a unique monetary situation. The government issued banknotes through two institutions, Riksens Ständers Bank (the Bank of the Estates of the Realm, later the Riksbank) and Riksgäldskontoret (the National Debt Office); the notes were in the same currency (riksdaler); they were occasionally in the same denominations; and they were both legal tender. Yet their values diverged, eventually by as much as 50 per cent. Both contemporary and subsequent writers have generally argued that this divergence occurred and was later driven by mass issuance of the Debt Office notes, and/or by the fact that these notes, in contrast to notes issued by the Bank, were not convertible into specie. These explanations are not borne out by the data. Instead, the best fit for the changes in the exchange rate between the two banknote types seems to be changes in the size of the outstanding government debt.

This article examines the relationship between the quality of property rights institutions and entrepreneurial activity, using panel data from 90 countries between 2004 and 2018. The results provide evidence of a U-shaped association: at low levels of property rights enforcement, entrepreneurship rates are elevated because of necessity-driven activity; as institutions improve moderately, total entrepreneurship initially declines but, at higher levels of property rights protection, opportunity-driven entrepreneurship rises, increasing overall entrepreneurial activity.

The contemporary fiat-money regime is characterised by structural deficiencies that exacerbate coordination failures among economic agents and undermine social cohesion through ineffective state regulation and unintended policy side effects. Drawing on Austrian School insights and enabled by modern exchange infrastructures, I propose a self-regulated monetary framework that aligns money issuance with participants' preferences, enforces sound-money principles, and leverages a Value Standard Exchange-Traded Fund (VS ETF) of commodity futures. The study details such a system's key components, its endogenous self-regulation mechanism, and the requisite technological and institutional infrastructure, and it outlines a feasible path for a gradual, non-coercive transition from the existing regime.

This article provides an overview of the health economics of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists in the United States based on a selection of the key literature, with some comparison references to cost-effectiveness in the United Kingdom. It discusses the potential health-care cost savings and societal benefits of products such as semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy), followed by current pricing trends and coverage, concluding with methodological and policy implications. To correctly consider the greater positive effects of GLP-1 agonists, standard methods of assessment must go beyond list prices and balance cost-containment, equity, and access while preserving competition and choice in the health-care market.