INET in the News

“It looks as if Joe Biden will win a very tight electoral college victory against arguably the worst president in history in the midst of a deadly pandemic and crippled economy the incumbent has bungled disastrously. How could this election even be close? ROB JOHNSON, Executive Director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), and I talk about how we got here and what it’s going to take to move forward. As long as both parties depend on Wall Street and the 1% for funding, our real challenges - climate change, restoring the middle class, healthcare, systemic racism, etc.- will never truly be dealt with.” —- Terrence McNally

William Lazonick, president of the Academic-Industry Research Network and a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts, who has devoted much of his research to the topic of buybacks, has written that the rule change “in effect gave corporations license to use open-market repurchases to manipulate the market.” … In an interview, Lazonick told Retail Dive, “These distributions to shareholders, particularly buybacks on top of dividends, are at the expense of keeping people employed, rewarding them for the work they’ve done, and investing in new products and processes.”

“Third, U.S. taxpayers foot a huge portion of the bill for basic science leading to new drugs. The National Institutes of Health is the single largest source of biomedical research in the world. In fact, NIH funding contributed to research associated with every single new drug approved by the FDA from 2010-2019, totaling $230 billion according to a recent report.”

“Executives have an interest in getting the stock price up and price gouging customers is one way they can do this,” said William Lazonick, professor emeritus of economics at University of Massachusetts and co-founder of the Academic-Industry Research Network. While many drug companies argue that they use their vast profits to fund ongoing pharmaceutical innovation, Lazonick said, “we’ve shown that most of these companies don’t do that.” Instead, the soaring prices fuel soaring stock prices and executive pay, which is often based largely on that price.” — INET Grantee William Lazonick

“Alberto Baccini, an economist at the University of Siena in Italy, says that people assessing research should be aware that the process can have an influence on academics’ behavior. ‘For each research assessment, you can find some behavior that changes in a way that is not desirable for society,’ he says. A 2019 study conducted by Baccini and colleagues found that researchers in Italy have been citing their own work or that authored by other researchers based at Italian institutions more frequently in response to a 2010 policy that is used to make decisions on promotions based on the number of citations researchers accumulate.” — INET Grantee Alberto Baccini

“Obviously, there’s serious work to be done in changing cultural norms. Dealing with this disrespectful activity requires a versatile toolkit. … Fortunately, cultural norms can change. Challenges to traditional patriarchy and outdated workplace behavior, like the #MeToo movement, are already shifting notions of what is acceptable. Lesley Stahl has been a respected journalist for 50 years. Which means she likely knows better than anyone else that gaining a seat at the table doesn’t mean much if you can’t be heard over the din.” — INET Senior Research Analyst Lynn Parramore

“In his speech, Xi pledged to uphold support for the Greater Bay Area initiative, and the Shenzhen plan includes specific measures to create employment and housing opportunities for Hong Kong’s young people. Driving forward the development of an economy as large and complex as China’s is a monumental feat in the best of times – not least because there are no models to emulate. Amid hostile external conditions, the challenge is even greater. But with the Shenzhen plan – and the broader adaptation and implementation of the city’s successful reforms – China may well be able to meet it.” - INET Expert Andrew Sheng, member of Commission on Global Economic Transformation

Luohan Academy will share content while working with INET to plan future co-sponsored events, seminars & more

Cambridge-INET has just launched a new website, featuring research, insights and news from Cambridge Economists about the economic implications of COVID-19

INET Board Member Richard Vague writes in The Hill on how to rescue the coronavirus economy

Rob Johnson discusses whether the recession will become a depression

In light of the growing concerns over the coronavirus, we have decided to postpone the INET Plenary to October 13-15, 2020 (originally slated for April 13-15, 2020)

William Greider, a pioneering economic journalist, passed away last month. We at INET are saddened by his loss, and in tribute to his legacy are sharing his essay from The Nation, “What Would Happen if Women Were In Charge of the Global Economy?”

INET grantee Katharina Pistor is featured in Bloomberg

A new method developed by INET grantees to estimate country-level citation clubs and self-citations is making waves, with implications far beyond the paper’s initial focus.