AN NBER PUBLICATION
ISSUE: No. 2, June 2019
The Reporter
A free quarterly publication featuring program updates, several summaries of affiliates' research, and news about the NBER
Author(s):
Over the last decade, research in the Economic Fluctuations and Growth (EFG) Program has responded to important macroeconomic challenges. This report emphasizes four areas in which there have been significant developments. First, the global financial crisis has prompted research on the sources and propagation of financial crises, as well as on policy responses. Second, the general decline in business dynamism and lackluster productivity has reignited interest in economic...
Article
Author(s):
Economists have long been interested in the immediate consequences of business cycle fluctuations. However, until recently, they have paid less attention to the lasting impacts of recessions on workers and firms. In this piece, I summarize some of my research contributions toward a better understanding of how and why recessions impact workers’ careers both in the short and long run.
I begin by summarizing my work showing that the Great Recession accelerated firm-level...
Article
Author(s):
Among the many challenges facing the Chinese economy, population aging is no doubt one of the most important. The old-age dependency ratio in China increased from 10 percent in 2000 to 13 percent in 2015, and is expected to increase to 44 percent by 2050 [Figure 1]. Both increasing life expectancy and declining fertility contributed to China's rapid population aging. Family planning policies, including but not restricted to the one-child policy, have...
Article
Author(s):
In a recent, widely covered press release, Larry Fink, chief executive of the world's largest asset management company, BlackRock, pledged significant resources toward developing sustainable investing, for example by offering funds that invest using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria along with other considerations to make asset allocation decisions.1 Fink said he views sustainable investing as being in its early stages. The...
Article
Author(s):
Fair Trade certification, a labeling initiative that offers better terms to producers and helps them to organize, aims to offer ethically minded consumers the opportunity to help lift producers in developing countries out of poverty. In a series of recent papers, I have examined the causes and consequences of Fair Trade certification.1
The appeal of this initiative is reflected in the impressive growth of Fair Trade-...
News
Article
Martin Feldstein, 1939–2019
Renowned Economist and NBER President Emeritus
Martin Feldstein, president of the NBER for nearly 30 years, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University, chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers from 1982 to 1984, and one of the most prolific and influential economists of the last half century, passed away on Tuesday, June 11. He was 79.
Feldstein's leadership of the NBER had a profound and lasting...
Meetings & Conferences, Spring 2019
Meetings
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ArticleAging Members of the NBER's Aging Program met March 29 in Cambridge. Research Associate Kathleen M. McGarry of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Program Director Jonathan S. Skinner of Dartmouth College organized the meeting. These researchers' papers were presented and discussed: Péter Hudomiet and Susann Rohwedder, RAND Corporation, and Michael D. Hurd, RAND Corporation and NBER, "The Lifetime Risk of Living with Dementia for Six Months, One...
Conferences
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ArticleBlockchain, Distributed Ledgers, and Financial Contracting The NBER's conference on Blockchain, Distributed Ledgers, and Financial Contracting took place May 2-3 in Cambridge. Research Associates Dean Corbae of University of Wisconsin-Madison, Zhiguo He of University of Chicago, and Robert Townsend of MIT organized the meeting, sponsored by the Puelicher Center on Banking at the University of Wisconsin. These researchers' papers were presented and discussed:...