Since the early 1990s, both Russia and China have reformed their economies – but the paths taken have been very different. In Russia, the speed of privatisation, alongside inadequate laws and institutions, led to economic collapse and ultimately the rise of Putin. In 1989, Russia’s population was nearly one billion smaller than China’s – but […]
Category: Lessons from history
Following partition of the island of Ireland in 1921, the two successor states had to forge separate paths, both politically and economically. The experience of the early years of the Irish Free State offers lessons for today’s debates about independence from the UK. This year marks the 100th anniversary of partition of the island of […]
Research on past pandemics suggests that they can have significant effects on inequality and poverty. But while the Black Death triggered a systematic decline in wealth inequality in medieval Europe, the Spanish flu of 1918-19 led to rises in both poverty and income inequality. Many fear that Covid-19 might lead to increases in poverty and […]
How did the UK reduce its very high ratio of public debt to GDP after the Second World War while simultaneously expanding the welfare state? Low interest rates, low unemployment, rapid economic growth and tolerance for higher taxation all played a role. The UK’s ratio of public debt to GDP was very big after the […]
The world continues to experience episodes that remind us of the profound disruptions of twentieth-century wartime. But how far does the war analogy stretch? Covid-19 has been able to disrupt our economy at a speed that no foreign enemy has ever matched. Britain’s experiences in two world wars suggest a few general lessons for the […]
Almost all UK firms and industries have been badly affected in the short term by the spread of Covid-19. Looking back at past pandemics – the Black Death, the Great Plague of London and the Spanish flu – provides some perspective on longer-term prospects for business. The Covid-19 pandemic and government efforts to halt the […]
History provides a reservoir of accumulated knowledge for coping with a deadly disease like Covid-19. Importantly for policy, it offers insights into what determines whether a society tends towards greater violence or greater cooperation in the aftermath of a pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic and its fallout have taken the world by surprise. Yet the history […]
The economy of Northern Ireland continues to be influenced by nearly 30 years of the Troubles. While there has been much economic improvement since the agreement finalised in Belfast on Good Friday 1998, the gains have been unevenly distributed. The recent rioting in Northern Ireland (NI) contrasts with the 23rd anniversary of the signing of […]
Historical epidemics provide only a loose guide to the likely economic impact of coronavirus. What history does suggest is that when they occur in societies already under stress, they can provoke wide-ranging and long-term changes in attitudes, culture and institutions. Covid-19 has made it important to understand the profound long-term economic effects of epidemics. Epidemics […]