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Benjamin A. Olken

Benjamin A. Olken

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Benjamin A. Olken, Professor of Economics at MIT, is Director of MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.

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  1. Spend Fossil-Fuel Subsidies on Pandemic Relief and the Poor
    basri1_Qamar SibtainIndia Today GroupGetty Images_indiagasstationfuel Qamar Sibtain/India Today Group/Getty Images
    Free to read

    Spend Fossil-Fuel Subsidies on Pandemic Relief and the Poor

    May 19, 2020 M. Chatib Basri, et al. argue that rock-bottom oil prices give many countries a unique opportunity to abandon an obsolete policy.

  2. Cushioning the Poor from the COVID-19 Shock
    hanna2_INDRANIL MUKHERJEEAFP via Getty Images_coronavirussignindiacooperation Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images

    Cushioning the Poor from the COVID-19 Shock

    Apr 15, 2020 Rema N. Hanna & Benjamin A. Olken suggest how developing economies can combat the pandemic and mitigate the impact on the most vulnerable.

  1. sinn106_DANIEL ROLANDPOOLAFP via Getty Images_ecb lagarde DANIEL ROLAND/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
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    The ECB Has Been Driving EU Inflation

    Hans-Werner Sinn explains how the European Central Bank has contributed to soaring prices, including for energy.
  2. teixeira1_ LUIS ROBAYOAFP via Getty Images_bolsonaroclimatechange Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images
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    The Populist Climate Threat

    Izabella Teixeira, et al. warn that right-wing nationalists and other political opportunists could normalize inaction.
  3. rogoff228_Chris J RatcliffeGetty Images_pound low Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
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    Britain Is Not an Emerging Market – Yet

    Kenneth Rogoff considers the implications of the new government’s poorly received economic-policy package.
  4. delong245_Samuel CorumGetty Image_jeromepowell Samuel Corum/Getty Images
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    When the Fed Stops Trying

    J. Bradford DeLong worries that the world's most important central bank is no longer looking for an optimal policy path.
  5. slaughter93_ Marli MillerUCGUniversal Images Group via Getty Images_lake mead Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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    No Security Without Climate Security

    Anne-Marie Slaughter explains why US policymakers need to focus more closely on global warming as an existential threat.
  6. hausmann105Gaston Brito MiserocchiGetty Images_lithium bolivia Gaston Brito Miserocchi/Getty Images
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    Development, Decarbonization, and Dumb Landowners

    Ricardo Hausmann argues that governments must manage natural resources more effectively to promote green growth.
  7. op_okonjoiweala2_ FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_ngoziokonjoiweala Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
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    The Trade Agenda Today

    Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala interviewed by Anne O. Krueger

    Recent global developments have shown what is at stake when trade becomes less open and transparent. To assess the current state of the international trading system and what lies in store for it, Anne O. Krueger queries World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala about the biggest challenges facing her organization.

     about the challenges facing her organization.
  8. GettyImages-1241893584 NurPhoto / Contributor via Getty Images
    4

    King Dollar

    In recent weeks, the US dollar has reached 20-year highs against key foreign currencies, and all-time highs against the Chinese renminbi and the British pound. What is sustaining the greenback’s surge, and what are its most significant consequences?

  9. gnair1_Yulia ReznikovGetty Images_USmoneycurrency Yulia Reznikov/Getty Images
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    The US Inflation Bonanza for Sovereign Debtors

    Gautam Nair & Federico Sturzenegger identify the big winners of a shock that is diluting mountains of debt around the world.

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