Clark Center Forum

Digital markets present policymakers with a quandary. This arises partially from the fact that, in the grand scheme of things, they remain a relatively recent phenomenon, and so, unlike many other markets, decades of data and evidence on how they typically develop and operate are still lacking.  The contours of the debate were neatly set […] 

American science may be under threat. Last week, the Financial Times looked at the potential impacts of the Trump administration’s cuts to science funding. As the FT reported: Last month, almost 2,000 researchers including dozens of Nobel Prize winners issued an open letter raising the alarm. “We see real danger in this moment,” said the […] 

This US survey examines (a) The current antitrust laws and regulations in the United States are inadequate for preventing digital platform firms from engaging in acquisitions and exclusionary conduct that harm competition; (b) Background on the Digital Markets Act: https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/index_en; Digital markets would work better if, in a manner broadly similar to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act*, criteria were established to designate some large firms as 'gatekeepers' and a regulatory body was established to govern the business practices of those gatekeepers 

The market for US Treasurys has a strong claim to being the most important of all financial markets. To a greater or lesser extent, most other markets are – to some degree at least – priced in relation to it. It provides the benchmark, or risk-free rate, against which riskier assets are priced. And in […] 

This European survey examines: New funding and immigration schemes to attract top scientific talent from abroad to EU universities would have a measurable impact on European innovation over a five year horizon 

This Finance survey examines: (a) Foreign demand for US treasury securities results in substantially lower interest rates on these instruments; (b) The recent volatility in Treasury market prices is primarily due to concerns about US macroeconomic prospects 

In 1970, more than half a century ago, the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 2626 committing economically advanced countries to spending 0.7% of their gross national income (GDI) to official development assistance (ODA) by 1975.  Few countries ever actually met that target. And this year both the United States and the United Kingdom have […] 

The dollar is not just America’s currency but also the wider world’s reserve currency. Indeed, it is not too much of an exaggeration to say that, in most cases, the term ‘global financial system’ could just as easily be substituted for ‘global dollar system’. Whilst the extent of dollar dominance in international reserves, trade, and […] 

This European survey examines (a) The reductions in Western programs of development assistance will have no measurable effects on GDP growth in the recipient countries over the next five years; (b) The reductions in Western programs of development assistance will have substantially negative effects on the most vulnerable people in the recipient countries over the next five years; (c) Development assistance motivated by the potential benefits for the donors in terms of prosperity and security is measurably more effective in promoting GDP growth in recipient countries than aid based on humanitarian or other moral principles 

This US survey examines (a) The cancellation of the majority of programs run by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will have no measurable effects on GDP growth in the recipient countries over the next five years; (b) The cancellation of the majority of USAID programs will have substantially negative effects on the most vulnerable people in the recipient countries over the next five years; (c) Development assistance motivated by the potential benefits for the donors in terms of prosperity and security is measurably more effective in promoting GDP growth in recipient countries than aid based on humanitarian or other moral principles