Clark Center Forum

By any reasonable definition, New Zealand is a small economy. The latest estimates from the International Monetary Fund suggest that the Pacific Nation’s GDP, weighted by purchasing power parity, represents just 0.2% of total global output. But the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has been something of a trailblazer when it comes to monetary […] 

 

This installment of the FTxBooth US Macroeconomists Survey discusses economists’ concern over President Trump’s economic policies, specifically vis-à-vis dollar dominance and the Federal Reserve. The summary results are below and you can read the Financial Times article here, subscription required. View the results of this survey>> For social media: Please use the hashtag #FTxBooth when […] 

In March 2022, in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of a Western-led sanctions package, some analysts became a little overexcited. Some went as far as to speculate whether Russia faced a ‘1998 style moment’ – referring to the country’s late 1990s default and economic crisis – or even a […] 

This Finance survey examines: The nature of the Trump administration's 'golden share' agreement with Nippon Steel over the acquisition of US Steel has been summarized on X by the US secretary of commerce: https://x.com/howardlutnick/status/1933924525265043774 (a) The approval of Nippon Steel's acquisition of US Steel will be substantially positive for jobs and investment in the US steel industry; (b) Government power over an acquired company's operational and governance matters, as in the US government's golden share in US Steel, is a substantial constraint on effective management of the company; (c) The precedent of the golden share arrangement in the US Steel deal will be a substantial deterrent to foreign investors in American companies 

This US survey examines (a) The experience of the past 10 years suggests that Western-led economic sanctions do not substantially deter the target countries from their course of action; (b) Had the G7 instituted a complete energy embargo in 2022, Russia's current military and economic position would be substantially worse; (c) Had the G7 instituted a complete energy embargo in 2022, the world economy would have faced substantially higher oil prices 

This European survey examines (a) The experience of the past 10 years suggests that Western-led economic sanctions do not substantially deter the target countries from their course of action; (b) Had the G7 instituted a complete energy embargo in 2022, Russia's current military and economic position would be substantially worse; (c) Had the G7 instituted a complete energy embargo in 2022, the world economy would have faced substantially higher oil prices 

This week the Federal Reserve held its key policy rate steady at 4.25%-4.5% and the so-called ‘dot plot’ (the best guess forward projections of Federal Open Market Committee members) continued to show two cuts were expected this calendar year. One might assume, given the lack of change in either the policy rate or the immediate […] 

The rise of social media is one of the big stories of the twenty-first century. Facebook may only be 21 years old, but, according to a Pew Research study of 2024, more than two-thirds of Americans now use it. YouTube has an even larger footprint, with 83% of American adults using the platform to consume […] 

This US survey examines (a) The potential for consumers to be harmed by digital platforms’ use of their personal data is sufficient that they would benefit from laws assigning them some kind of default control rights over their data; (b) The risks of harm from use of social media services - such as harm to mental health, exploitation of children, and more - are now high enough that society would benefit from federal regulations setting safety standards and creating a process of compensation for harm by digital platforms