History is full of evidence that tariffs harm economic performance. Michael Bordo and Mickey Levy assess the two waves of globalisation in modern history and how they were interrupted by tariffs and barriers to trade, and outline possible scenarios and probable outcomes

A trade war would undermine America’s innovators
Trump is correct to seek to revitalise American manufacturing. Stephen Ezell and Rodrigo Balbontin argue that the heavy reliance on tariffs is counterproductive and urge a smarter strategy focused on strategic investments in R&D, trade agreements, and support for innovation ecosystems

A new ‘poly’ global reserve currency
The US dollar has dominated global finance for nearly a century. Giovanni Tria, Paul Samson and Angelo Federico Arcelli consider a proposed euro-led ‘poly’ digital currency basket to complement the dollar, that could help stabilise the monetary system

Geopolitical risks and the EU
Global political tensions have amplified economic uncertainty. Roberta Arbolino and Paolo Di Caro evaluate the negative implications for consumption, investment, and saving decisions, and for the effectiveness of structural policies

Lessons from the history of international currencies
There are moments when foundations that seem unbreakable begin to shift, says Christine Lagarde. She believes the euro could become a viable alternative to the dollar, earning the EU immense benefits, if governments could strengthen the bloc’s financial and security architecture

Nature’s bell tolls for thee, economy!
For central banks to fulfil their mandates they must take account of the natural environment. Frank Elderson discusses the looming economic crisis from nature loss and the risk sitting on company and investor balance sheets
Finance
Tax

Tariffs cannot fund the government
In the past most government spending was funded from import tariffs. Simon Evenett and Marc-Andreas Muendler discuss whether this practice could work today, paying attention to the displacement effect on revenues

Tariffs and digital services
EU targeting of digital services in tariff retaliation would present challenges. Bertin Martens argues that the European Union lacks an instrument to unpick crossborder transactions on US digital platforms

Upending the global trade policy landscape
The tariff measures represent a seismic shift in the global trading landscape. Simon Evenett and Johannes Fritz discuss how the US has moved away from rules-based trade governance toward a results-oriented and probably a more transactional approach