Ricardo's threads | Nothing contributes so much to the prosperity and happiness of a country as high profits

The climate-biodiversity-pollution nexus: the pricing of environmental credit risks for European

12/09/2025 European Central Bank Central banks

This study examines how euro area banks factor pollution-induced biodiversity risks into lending decisions, using data from 832 banks and 5,000 major polluters. Our results show that banks are increasingly pricing these risks by adjusting loan-to-value ratios and interest rates. Banks adjust lending conditions in line with EU pollution and biodiversity protection legislation, particularly for companies with large pollution footprints near biodiversity-protected areas or those contributing to Environmental Quality Standards failures of downstream surface waters.

Health insurance premiums rose nearly 3x the rate of worker earnings over the past 25 years

12/08/2025 The Conversation USA

Patients and employers are feeling the pain of increased health premiums. wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images PlusHealth insurance premiums in the U.S. significantly increased between 1999 and 2024, outpacing the rate of worker earnings by three times, according to our newly published research in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Struggling to find a job? Three reasons why the UK labour market is stuck right now

12/08/2025 The Conversation News & Comments

Irene Miller/ShutterstokBritain’s jobs market appears to have entered a “low-hire, low-fire” freeze, creating stagnation that could affect everyone from school-leavers to professionals. But unlike recessions characterised by mass layoffs, this scenario represents a market in which workers cling to their jobs while newcomers find the door shut.

The U.S. Is Betting the Economy on ‘Scaling’ AI: Where Is the Intelligence When One Needs It?

12/08/2025 Ineteconomics Analysis

Storm argues the AI data-centre investment boom is creating a bubble that will be socially and financially expensive when it pops.

The U.S. Is Betting the Economy on ‘Scaling’ AI: Where Is the Intelligence When One Needs It?

12/08/2025 Ineteconomics Analysis

Storm argues the AI data-centre investment boom is creating a bubble that will be socially and financially expensive when it pops.
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Netflix-Warner deal would drive streaming market further down the road of ‘Big 3’ domination

12/08/2025 The Conversation USA

Netflix's Hollywood studio offices at Sunset Bronson Studios in Los Angeles. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty ImagesWhen it comes to major U.S. industries, three tends to be the magic number.

How keeping down borrowing costs for mortgages and other loans is built into the Fed’s ‘dual mandate’

12/08/2025 The Conversation USA

Home borrowing costs, like other long-term rates, are not directly controlled by the Fed – but they still feel its influence. athima tongloom/Moment via Getty ImagesWhat’s the point of monetary policy?

Powell Faces Pressure From Multiple Fronts as Fed Prepares to Cut Rates

12/08/2025 New York Times USA

The chair of the central bank is dealing with internal divisions while being besieged by President Trump and front-runners jockeying to replace him.

Misestimating house values: consequences for household finance

12/08/2025 European Central Bank Central banks

This study examines the effect of systematic household misestimation of home prices on financial decisions, including stockholdings, consumption, and asset allocation.

Asset prices, wealth inequality, and welfare: safe assets as a solution

12/08/2025 European Central Bank Central banks

Can rising asset prices reduce wealth inequality? This paper builds a continuous-time heterogeneous-agent general equilibrium in which entrepreneurs hold risky private capital and traditional savers hold safe assets. Safe-asset expansions—via financial innovation, public debt, or a stable equity bubble—operate through a single pass-through: they lower entrepreneurs’ undiversified risk exposure, compress risk premia, and raise the interest rate.

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