Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) sought to align economics with modern scientific thinking by recasting it as an evolutionary theory of the process of cultural development that unfolds in response to changing material and social conditions. Central to this program was his conception of the interplay...

What is the relationship, if any, between age dependency ratios (ADRs) and macroeconomic growth in low-income countries versus emerging economies? This paper probes the hypotheses that (1) ADRs and GDP growth are inversely correlated at both stages of development and (2) an equivalent rise in...

This research note describes a cross-sectional study of the relationship between population growth and GDP growth across 181 countries, including subsets of 51 emerging market countries and 36 low-income countries. The bivariate model produces a statistically significant result only for the...

How can the actor, a poor wretch in private life, be a king onstage? Can two great actors' different interpretations of the same role both be true? The German sociologist and philosopher Georg Simmel (1858-1918) squarely addressed these and other questions about the art of acting. This essay...

This paper presents a panel data analysis of general government spending on health, education, and the major components of social protection in light of demographic trends (aging and migration) and selected domestic revenue sources (personal and corporate income taxes) across 27 E.U. member...