China's geoeconomic strategy: China’s strategy towards the financial crisis and economic reform

China’s pragmatic attitude towards its own 30 years of reform can be used to similarly characterise its attitude toward the global fi nancial crisis of 2008 and the resultant push for further economic reforms. China was able to manage the downturn following 2008, and has a good chance of managing the consequences of Europe’s slowdown by undertaking fiscal and monetary stimulus. The debate over global imbalances has increased the need for nations to re-balance their economies, including China. The Chinese economy requires rebalancing to sustain strong growth rates in the coming decades, with the slowdown in the West making the re-orientation towards growth by domestic demand an even greater imperative

'Global Britain': the trade strategies the UK could pursue after Brexit

One of the stated aims of Brexit is for Britain to forge new trade deals with the rest of the world. Linda Yueh (LSE IDEAS) looks at the strategies the UK could adopt in an effort to become a global trading hub. Retaining and shadowing existing free trade agreements, particularly the FTA with Caribbean nations, is a crucial first step. ..

Time to reconsider the Budget rules and avoid “fiscal illusions”

Following the latest Budget, it has become evident that the government’s fiscal rules are not as reassuring as intended, writes Linda Yueh. Here she analyses the announcements and forecasts, and offers a more straightforward approach to the rules that would allow for greater investment and improved productivity

Realising the aims of ‘Global Britain’

How can ‘Global Britain’ create an effective post Brexit trade strategy? In this Strategic Update, Linda Yueh sets out how Britain can work towards a role as a global trading hub

Social distancing and productivity: how to manage a volatile period of growth for the UK economy

How can we boost productivity and help the economy grow during a period of social distancing? Linda Yueh writes that there is an urgent need for government and businesses to support technology investment. This will help change workplace norms as well as enable workers who can work from home do so more effectively

A global trade hub for services: the UK after Brexit

Can Britain become a hub for global trade in services, with overlapping free trade agreements? In this Strategic Update, Linda Yueh outlines the approach to the Brexit negotiations needed to achieve this outcome

Refining Britain's economic diplomacy

The EU referendum has thrown up many questions around globalisation as well as how to reposition Britain in the world after Brexit. The UK government’s professed intent to leave the European Union and negotiate its own free trade agreements means that Britain would be setting its own trade policies for the first time since 1973, and would need to explicitly set out the aims of British trade and associated foreign investment policies for the first time in four decades. With this in mind, clearly defining the UK’s economic diplomacy is crucial. Current global and domestic conditions are politically challenging. However, this offers an opportunity for the UK to take a lead in setting a helpful direction for the rest of the world, and ensuring that trade and investment policies benefit all in society

Economic diplomacy in the 21st century: principles and challenges

Economic diplomacy in the 21st century will face a different set of challenges stemming from the changed global economy, US-China tensions, as well as a backlash against globalisation, among others. Therefore, the conduct of economic diplomacy, i.e., how a country manages its foreign economic relations including trade and investment, must adapt. The framework for economic diplomacy should seek to balance commercial openness with strategic foreign policy aims, broadly defined. It should situate a country within the 21st century global economy with its new drivers, promote a rules-based system in order to mitigate Great Power tensions, and recognise that all foreign economic policy is ultimately also domestic. There is no one general approach but there are several principles, each with their own challenges, for governments to consider, which is set out in this Strategic Update

Trump’s tax cut was a well-timed giveaway for the midterms

When we talk about elections, the role of the economy inevitably looms large. Less than a year ago, Congress passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut bill, which alongside increased spending, may stimulate economic growth until 2019. Linda Yueh writes that the Trump-sponsored tax cut and fiscal stimulus are likely to influence voters to a greater degree than the president’s trade war with China, especially if falling unemployment rates lead to higher wages

Global Intellectual Property Rights and Economic Growth

This article argues that the global intellectual property rights regime will affect the economic growth prospects of developing countries. The trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) provisions under the WTO articles will eventually cover all of its member countries, currently at around 150 and representing 95% of world trade. It is a significant change in the global legal system with implications for economic growth. One of the key mechanisms generating convergence in global economic growth rates is the transfer of technology from developed to developing countries. According to the neoclassical models of growth, technology is embodied within the capital that moves from rich to poor countries through a process of seeking higher returns found in poor countries on account of diminishing returns to capital in developed economies with higher capital stock. Convergence in growth rates is predicted as a result of the free transfer of technology embodied in foreign direct investment (FDI) that enables developing countries to imitate and adopt the technology of developed countries without having to duplicate the process of innovation. The evidence of global growth in the post-war period does not support this prediction. Even before the advent of TRIPS in 1995, technology transfers from rich to poor countries were not costless. The transfer often required payment at monopoly rates created by intellectual property rights (IPRs) in developed countries. IPRs create an artificial monopoly to promote innovation but also make the dissemination of the knowledge costly. For developing countries, there had been avenues of adopting technology without paying monopoly rents, such as through compulsory licensing. Prior to TRIPS, the international legal principles concerning IPRs respected sovereignty and independence which gave developing countries greater latitude to acquire technology without paying the full cost of IPRs. The existence of costly transfers prior to TRIPS would contradict the prediction of convergence in the global economy in addition to other factors that inhibit the absorption and transfer of technology; a factor that is critical to a sustained rate of economic growth. After TRIPS, the process would likely slow further. Using evidence on income dispersion in the global economy and the evolution of global IPRs, this paper argues that the IPRs regime has contributed to a divergence in growth rates among countries by making technology costly, which increases the cost of production for developing countries and inhibits their ability to catch up. There could also be a countervailing effect where an international rules-based system facilitates more FDI to developing countries. With TRIPS due to encompass the majority of the world\u27s nations in the coming years, the implications for economic growth are indeed notable. O34, O40, K33