It is fashionable to criticize economic theory for focusing too much on rationality and ignoring the imperfect and emotional way in which real economic decisions are reached. All of us facing the global economic crisis wonder just how rational economic men and women can be. Behavioral economics—an effort to incorporate psychological ideas into economics—has become all the rage.
Infrastructure and its effects on economic growth, social welfare, and sustainability receive a great deal of attention today. There is widespread agreement that infrastructure is a key dimension of global development and that its impact reaches deep into the broader economy with important and multifaceted implications for social progress.
This essay reviews the political circumstances and strategic orientations of Vienna's comprehensive urban development policy, and how the EIB's investments facilitated key projects and supported Vienna's process of urban modernisation. Urban development in Vienna took place in four cycles, which are characterised by distinctive internal and external conditions and opportunities. Each prompted d…
In the fight against the Coronavirus, digital technology is playing an unprecedented role in the maintenance of daily life and economic and social activities, as well as the recovery of industries and business activities. The Coronovirus-pandemic could become a tipping point for digitalisation - a dawn of a new era - by accelerating the maturity of digital technology: What was once a ‘nice to…
With 3 million residents, the Metropolitan Warsaw region is today the ninth most-populated capital city in the EU. It has undergone a series of far-reaching changes to its economic structure over the past 50 years to attain this status. This essay reviews how Poland's capital went from environmental and infrastructure degradation to the wealthiest capital city in Eastern Europe. Language
Amidst the global financial crisis, international institutions, national authorities and international commercial banks collaborated closely to prevent contagion spreading to Central, East and south east Europe. They built a platform, the Vienna Initiative, that helped curb disruptions and restore confidence in the banking system. Ten years later, the Vienna Initiative has transformed itself in…
What is Europe? A continent fragmented through the centuries by wars, border conflicts and cultural diversity. As Europeans, we do not have a common language or a common history, but we do have common roots, needs and ambitions. These similarities led us to fulfil what at the end of the Second World War could have been called a “reasonable utopia” — the European Union. The Spanish writer …
Part memoir, part crash-course in economic theory, this deeply engaging book by one of the world's foremost economists looks at economic ideas through a personal lens. Together with an introduction to some of the central concepts in modern economic thought, Ariel Rubinstein offers some powerful and entertaining reflections on his childhood, family and career. In doing so, he challenges many of …
Imagine an economy in which today’s goods become tomorrow’s resources and nothing is discarded. Ellen MacArthur, the founder of her eponymous foundation, which works to accelerate the transition to a regenerative economy, writes that we need to stop living a “take, make, dispose” lifestyle. We need to think about a circular economy where waste and pollution are prevented, products are r…
Europe’s cultural heritage is a vast, multifaceted mosaic showing who we were, who we are and who we aspire to be. We are all responsible for this huge, precious and fragile legacy. The coronavirus pandemic revealed that unexpected events can suddenly change our way of life. In the future, other threats could well pose further challenges to our safety, health and environment as well as our so…