The Consilium
Two writers. One question. Read both sides of the argument, then cast your vote. Results are hidden until after you vote.
As AI transforms economies and labour markets, the question of how - and whether - to regulate it has never been more urgent.
AI generates textbook market failures: negative externalities, information asymmetries, and competitive concentration. The economic case for regulation is strong, and the window for effective action is narrowing.
Premature AI regulation will entrench incumbents, drive research offshore, and fail to address actual harms. Existing laws are sufficient; targeted enforcement is better than new frameworks.
Read both sides, then cast your vote
The post-war free trade consensus is under unprecedented strain. Is the critique justified, or are the costs of retreat too high?
The empirical case for free trade remains robust. Its distributional consequences require management - but the answer is redistribution policy, not protectionism.
The China Shock literature, the pandemic supply chain crisis, and the political backlash against liberalisation all point to the same conclusion: free trade orthodoxy is incomplete.
190 votes · Voting closed
Two economists make the case for and against a significant increase in the National Living Wage.
Decades of evidence show that carefully implemented minimum wage increases lift incomes without the job destruction critics predict. The monopsony argument is compelling, and the distributional case is stronger than ever.
A higher minimum wage is not the most efficient tool for reducing poverty. Better-targeted instruments exist, and the employment costs - especially for vulnerable workers and small businesses - are higher than advocates admit.
240 votes · Voting closed