Missing capitals: how should we think about the modern wealth of nations?
For many of us, the word wealth tends to be associated only with financial assets. But this is an overly narrow view of prosperity. For much of history, land was the foundation of wealth: the Domesday...
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Where is the wealth of nations in the 21st century?
Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations – published in 1776 – was an inspirational treatise that set the foundation for modern economic theory. This year, the...
View ArticleDark trading: what is it and how does it affect financial markets?
‘Dark trading’ is an anonymous form of financial exchange that is becoming increasingly mainstream. In the United States, the percentage of the value of trading executed ‘in the dark’ doubled between...
View ArticleAI cartels: what does artificial intelligence mean for competition policy?
People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.’ This famous...
View ArticleThe hollow corporation: what does today’s division of labour look like?
Adam Smith famously described the productivity gains from division of labour. The central insight is that specialisation by workers and organisations can promote greater efficiency – with the benefits...
View ArticleScottish Enlightenment: what were the influences on Adam Smith’s thought?
Ideas rarely come out of nowhere. Prior thinking matters. So too do the surroundings in which the people doing the new thinking live. Even when this influence is subconscious, what people think...
View ArticleWhat would Adam Smith make of modern competition policy?
Adam Smith was a strong advocate of competition, and worried about how it could be undermined. But despite his well known observation about the proclivity for firms to conspire against the public, he...
View ArticleHow was Adam Smith shaped by the Scottish Enlightenment?
Adam Smith (1723-1790) is widely considered the father of modern economics with the publication of his landmark work, The Wealth of Nations. The success of this book, published in 1776, is related not...
View ArticlePanmure House: how has Adam Smith’s home contributed to his legacy?
AL: Can you tell us about the 18th century history of Panmure House and Smith’s time there? CH: Panmure House is an ancient building, right in the centre of Edinburgh. Today, it sits very near the...
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How will artificial intelligence affect financial regulation?
The financial sector is inextricably linked to the burgeoning world of digital technology. In this modern era, financial practitioners lean on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to unravel...
View ArticleCan digital innovation, including AI, improve productivity growth?
Innovation in new products and processes is the engine of long-term growth in productivity – the increased efficiency of production of goods and services that ultimately underpins rising living...
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The UK’s productivity gap: what did it look like twenty years ago?
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. A French expression, but very much a UK problem when it comes to the poor national productivity performance relative to comparable advanced economies. As the...
View ArticleWhat can we learn about patents and innovation from the past?
We are now firmly in the middle of the fourth industrial revolution, according to the World Economic Forum. This is a period of rapid and widespread technological change characterised by the...
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Twenty years of Facebook: how has it shaped economies around the world?
Facebook started out as the ‘hot or not’ website ‘Facemash’ in a Harvard dorm room back in 2004. Today, it is the mega-corporation Meta Platforms Inc, boasting more than three billion active users and...
View ArticleWhat is crowdfunding and how is it helping small businesses in the UK?
Crowdfunding – a funding model that leverages online platforms to raise capital from a large pool of individuals – is currently valued at around $1.41 billion globally and is expected to reach $3.62...
View ArticleHow did UK small and medium-sized enterprises manage during the pandemic?
Start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the bedrock of the UK’s economy. They account for 99% of all UK firms and employ around 60% of all private sector employees. Despite this,...
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How can the UK revive its ailing productivity?
The people of the UK are working hard. But all the toil and sweat does not seem to be doing enough to support a truly buoyant economy. Herein lies the productivity problem. You can think of...
View ArticleLooking forward, looking back
A battered economy, a populace hungry for change and a leader with limited support from his fellow politicians, zero mandate from the electorate yet still the power to decide the timing of the next...
View ArticleHow has digitalisation changed the economics of the creative industries?
The creative industries – which include music, film, television, video games, museums, architecture, publishing, design and advertising – are regarded as one of the success stories of the UK economy....
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How can public investment in research improve UK economic performance?
What contribution does scientific research make to innovation, productivity and long-term economic growth? Why does such a substantial share of a country’s spending on research and development...
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