SAN DIEGO — The mood among economic forecasters gathered for their annual meeting last weekend was dark. They warned each other about President Trump’s trade war, about government budget deficits, and, repeatedly, about the inability of central banks to fully combat another recession should one sweep the globe anytime soon. Among the thousands of economists...Read More

The year 2019 was a big one for responsible investors who incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions. Issues such as environmental sustainability, human capital management, diversity and inclusion have become corporate imperatives while CEOs are now rejecting the old shareholder primacy model of capitalism. The momentum will continue in 2020. Here...Read More

In the field of psychology, the image is canon: a child sitting in front of a marshmallow, resisting the temptation to eat it. If she musters up the willpower to resist long enough, she’ll be rewarded when the experimenter returns with a second marshmallow. Using this ‘marshmallow test,’ the Austrian-born psychologist Walter Mischel demonstrated that...Read More

Global automotive firm Toyota Motor Corporation has announced its plan to build a sample of how a smart city of the future will be modelled. The prototype city of the future will be located on a 175-acre site at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan. The city will be named Woven City, will be fully...Read More

“Social investors are too busy running to the top floor to get the impact coming out of the chimney – when the foundations haven’t been built to provide strength and stability to the organisation.” These were the words of a social investor we interviewed earlier this year as part of a research project for a...Read More

Women from a single mothers’ association sweep rice at their processing plant in the town of Bolgatanga, Ghana. Our world is full of brilliant possibilities. But they’re not always open to everyone. The opportunities for women to contribute to the global economy are intrinsically linked to where in the world they are born and reach...Read More

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time there was talk of recession, in part, because the stock market and yield curve were signaling warning signs. At the end of 2018, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst year since 2008. If the stock market is falling, then investors must think...Read More

Nations across the world are following a United Nations blueprint to build a more sustainable future — but a new study shows that blueprint leads less to a castle in the sky, and more to a house that needs constant remodeling. Sustainability scientists have developed systematic and comprehensive assessment methods and performed the first assessment...Read More

Climate change and its consequences have been in the headlines more than ever lately, and for good reason. It is estimated that if the average global temperature rises by 2 degrees Celsius on average over the next decade, it will result in irreversible damage to our planet and its inhabitants. Governments and their leaders have...Read More

Much has been written about the rise of automation in developed countries. Economists have been busily creating models seeking to quantify the likely impact of automation on employment.1 However, far less has been written about the potential effects on work in developing nations. This is surprising, given that automation may be especially troublesome for developing...Read More