RES Newsletter August 2026

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01 FROM THE PRESIDENT | A Letter from new RES President, Tony Venables, reflecting on the Society’s work, the challenges facing the profession, and priorities for the year ahead

02 ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS | Partha Dasgupta argues that GDP overlooks the natural assets underpinning prosperity and calls for greater vigilance in protecting biodiversity and natural capital

04 HISTORY | Joel Mokyr, Avner Greif and Guido Tabellini examine why Europe and China followed different political and economic paths, focusing on how local co-operation shaped institutions and development

06 TAX | Marko Köthenbürger and co-authors use evidence from Switzerland to show how strongly high-income households can respond to differences in local income tax when choosing where to live

08 INNOVATION | Philip Auerswald explores the market pioneers behind the extraordinary global spread of mobile phones and the role of entrepreneurship in economic development

10 ANNIVERSARY | Graham Brownlow marks 250 years of The Wealth of Nations, challenging caricatures of Adam Smith and considering the continuing relevance of his ideas to economics and public policy

12 ECONOMETRICS | Sascha Keweloh explains how economic reasoning and statistical identification can work together to strengthen causal analysis in structural vector autoregressions

14 THE PROFILE | Melanie Jones reflects on her Welsh roots, research into disability and labour-market inequality, and the potential of economics to tackle pressing social challenges

16 BRIDGING | Mairi Spowage reflects on the importance of high-quality economic and fiscal data in strengthening public understanding, policy scrutiny and decision making

18 INDUSTRY | Joe Grice and Paul Ekins examine the investment, pollution and regulatory challenges facing the UK water sector and the need for better data to inform future decisions

19 BOOKS | Andy Ross and Vicky Pryce examine the causes of Britain’s long-term economic decline and set out policy recommendations aimed at restoring sustainable growth

20 FELLOW IN THE SPOTLIGHT | RES Fellow Carlos Carrillo Tudela takes the long view on labour markets, discussing worker mobility, unemployment and the career consequences of economic shocks

22 CONFERENCE | A look back at the 2026 RES Annual Conference in Newcastle, bringing together more than 450 economists for keynotes, research presentations and discussion across the profession

24 PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE | The Economic Journal Special Issues Editor Alberto Bisin introduces the Journal’s first Special Issue on climate change and inequality and previews forthcoming collections

25 NEWS AND EVENTS | Coverage of recent developments, announcements and events across the Society and the wider economics community

28 MY WEEK | James Reade takes us through a week at the intersection of economics and sport, from football research and teaching to his work with clubs and the wider sports community