News and views from the Blavatnik School of Government community 
Democratic governments in the West are increasingly losing their bearings. From the shift toward illiberalism in Poland and Hungary to the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and Donald Trump’s victory in the United States’ presidential election, a particularly lethal strain of populism is infecting societies – and it is […]
The people of the former Eastern Bloc know how a bad union can impact their lives, and consequently they see the immense benefits in their membership of a democratic, free and (relatively) prosperous union. But recent years, possibly decades, have shown that the European Union is in trouble. Not only […]
In 1955, a referendum was held in Sweden on whether the country should continue to drive on the left or if there should be a switch to the right. A government committee investigating this issue had recommended such a change, the main argument being that this was the traffic system […]
As the Bratislava summit of the other 27 EU member states nears, shuttle diplomacy has intensified. After Theresa May’s tour of European capitals in late July, Angela Merkel met with fellow leaders last week. Both have had to acknowledge the concerns of Central and Eastern European countries – Slovakia for […]
The UK is rethinking its position in global trade. In the wake of the UK’s EU referendum and the vote to “leave,” the government has created a new Department for International Trade and is busy re-deploying several hundred civil servants to staff it. Yes, after more than 40 years, trade […]
The lead up to the Brexit referendum was marked by widespread confidence that the UK would continue to remain in the EU. Complacency was epidemic, from strong market optimism (which would later suffer a heavy landing) to the unwillingness of businesses and politicians to consider the consequences of a change […]
Britain has voted to leave the EU. The consequences could range from eventual breakdown of the UK to decades spent in economic recovery. It seems hard to believe that British people voted in favour of a position that makes little economic or political sense.
One important piece of economics has not been discussed enough in the Brexit debate: the Theory of Second Best Sixty years ago, a little paper somewhat revolutionised economics simply by explaining what seems like common sense: If your first best option is not available, the second best option might be […]
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