In the Spring 2005 edition of CentrePiece:

In this edition:

Multinationals: heroes or villains of the global economy?

Multinational firms are demonised by anti-globalisation campaigners.Yet according to a new book by Tony Venables and colleagues, the evidence is that they are generally a force for prosperity in the world economy. Read more...

Is new technology good or bad for jobs?

'If men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work.' Chris Pissarides investigates whether President Kennedy's claim is still true. Read more...

In brief... Boffins in the USA: the boost to UK productivity

The US innovation boom since 1990 has had major benefits for the UK economy. According to new research by CEP's director John Van Reenen and colleagues, without the growth in US spending on research and development (R&D)... Read more...

In brief... More inequality means higher inflation

All governments claim to want low inflation - but not all achieve it. While poorer countries generally fare worse, inflation rates can differ markedly even between equally wealthy countries. Turkey and Korea had similar ... Read more...

What's the good of education?

What is the economic value of investments in education made by individuals, firms and governments? A new book edited by Stephen Machin and Anna Vignoles provides top quality empirical evidence on the diverse set of issue... Read more...

Social mobility in Britain: low and falling

The government wants 'to create a Britain that is economically successful because it is socially mobile'. But new research by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin indicates that social mobility is not only declining... Read more...

In brief... What's wrong with Europe's economy?

There is a conventional wisdom that Europe's poor economic performance is a sign of deep structural problems, which must be addressed by product market liberalisation, labour market reform and reduction of uncompetitive ... Read more...

In brief... Pay inequalities and economic performance

What is the relationship between the structure of earnings within firms and their business and employment performance? A major CEP project led by David Marsden has been using new European data to examine the role that fi... Read more...

Tackling unemployment: Europe's successes and failures

Why has unemployment fallen in some European countries but not in others? To answer this question, Richard Layard, Stephen Nickell and Richard Jackman revisit their landmark analysis of macroeconomic performance and the ... Read more...

In brief... New opportunities for Britain's trade unions?

The passage of the 1999 Employment Relations Act arguably signified the recovery of trade unions' political influence after many years of exclusion from policy-making under the Conservatives. As a new CEP book edited by ... Read more...