Although it may seem like a novel phenomenon, current social distancing and other interruptions to our daily lives are nothing new. Similar patterns were exhibited during the 2003 SARS epidemic and the Spanish flu in 1918. We have experienced other pandemics, such as cholera or HIV. But what makes the corona crisis different from the
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On Wednesday 13th May 2020, Room for Discussion had the honour to interview Philip Lane, chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB). Lane is seen by many to provide an academic counterweight to the traditional political abilities of ECB President, Christine Lagarde. In this Room for Discussion interview, Lane answered some questions on the
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The European Union is facing one of its biggest challenges ever. Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, the euro area is set for one of its deepest downturns yet – with forecasts predicting a 10% drop in the eurozone GDP this year. Negotiations on the EU’s fiscal response to the epidemic have exposed
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Economic inequality has increased in nearly all countries for the past decades. Institutions and policies do matter in preventing it.
As a record number of private jets landed in Davos in January 2019 for the World Economic Forum, non-profit Oxfam released its annual inequality statistics. The report stated that the 26 richest billionaires own as many assets as the 3.8 billion people making up the poorest half of the planet’s population. It added that, in
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On Wednesday 26th of February, Room for Discussion interviewed Chanel Miller, to many known as Emily Doe. Rostra Economica was among the audience, so make sure to read our review of the interview if you were not able to attend. Furthermore, if you want to know more about the topic and about Chanel Miller, check
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It has been now over 5 years since the woman who became known as “Emily Doe” was sexually assaulted on the Stanford University Campus. Her new book reveals her real name.
The case of Chanel Miller (formerly known as Emily Doe) became famous in 2016 after BuzzFeed published the statement she read at the sentencing hearing for Brock Turner, the Stanford student convicted of the assault. Four years after the publication of the statement, Miller is ready to talk. In her memoir “Know My Name”, she
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Unprecedented Political Mobilization is Calling for a New Social Contract between Citizens and States.
2019 seems to have consolidated an unusual outpouring of widespread anger. In fact, not since the wave of “people power” movements in the late 1980s and 1990s has the world experienced such a wave of demonstrations. Algeria, Bolivia, Britain, India, Sudan, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, France, Guinea, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Pakistan – the
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Often fuelled by the economic incentive of rising the most views and revenue, implementation of economic disincentives may not be a bad idea to regulate false information.
It is very likely that this is not the first article about fake news that you read. The phenomenon has become viral in the past years, and its consequences, from elections outcomes to fuelling propaganda and hateful speech, have been widely discussed. The concept of fake news – which means any information created to mislead
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This past March 19th, 2019, Room for Discussion hosted an interview with Dr. Professor Joyeeta Gupta (co-chair of UN Environment’s Global Environmental Outlook-6) and Freek Bersch (Spokesperson for Economy at Milieudefensie). The goal of the interview was to examine the challenges posed by climate change to our legal systems and policy rooms, and how the
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An analysis of our use of nuclear power, and how this contrasts with our available renewable sources.
Nuclear power has generated a controversial debate. Proponents of this energy, such as the World Nuclear Association and Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy, contend that nuclear power is a safe, sustainable energy source that has the potential to reduce our carbon emissions. Opponents, such as Greenpeace and NIRS, argue that nuclear power poses many threats to
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How Astropreneurship is Shaping Worldwide Politics and the Role that Europe Plays in It
When the American Congress enacted the Commercial Space Launch Amendment Act in 2004, the world changed for many entrepreneurs. The act enabled private space exploration to become legal, in order to (as NASA wrote) “advance the commercial space sector”. By now, many companies have developed active space plans to either partner with NASA or establish themselves
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Recent figures revealed that women now have on average 2.4 children in their lifetime. Undoubtedly, in some countries, this number is far higher, but in more than half of the countries around the globe it has fallen to below two. This decline in population growth has been extensively met with alarm, pleading risk of a depopulation
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For the past decades, public health experts and economists have been warning of the large human toll and economic losses caused by diseases of poverty, especially malaria, dengue fever, and sleeping sickness. To tackle this, funding agencies, philanthropies, and pharmaceutical companies have greatly invested in research to find a solution. However, most of these diseases
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When I read in the newspaper that more than half of the EU’s total coal-fired power stations are losing money, I get the feeling that we are doing something right. Air pollution and climate change policies have been pushing coal-fired electricity stations down the drain, and Europe is increasingly setting stricter rules and higher carbon
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Last Monday 8th October, the prize in Economic Sciences was awarded. The winners? William Nordhaus and Paul Romer, for “integrating innovation and climate with economic growth” (as declared by the Royal Swedish Academy). The prize this year has been shared between the two American economists for bringing long-term thinking on climate issues and technological innovation
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On Wednesday October 3rd, you maybe had the chance to attend Carles Puigdemont’s interview held by Room for Discussion. Talking with the two interviewers, he explained that it was undoubtedly difficult to live away from his native country and his family, but he made one thing clear: he still feels at home in Belgium, because
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Carles Puigdemont Journalist and politician, Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó became president of the Government of Catalonia in 2016. His term was a relatively short one by leaving his charge in 2017, when he was dismissed by the Spanish Central Government after an unilateral declaration of Independence. Nowadays, he lives in Belgium, being sought by Spain
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You must have surely heard something about plastic straws being recently banned in different parts of the world. The whole city of Paris will progressively remove plastic straws in all its municipal establishments from September on. Some U.S. cities (Seattle, San Francisco) have also passed some laws about it, and every time more companies are
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We are living a paradox. On one hand, globalization is steadily increasing. Free trade, international agreements, technology development, they all contribute to this rapid growth which we are experiencing and which could get even stronger. Because of this growth, company “giants” such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple, etc., have risen, increasing our living-standards significantly. As
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Industrialised China has faced pollution problems for several years. A wide variety of documentaries on the country’s pollution can be easily found online, and pretty much everyone has seen the shocking images of Beijing or other cities covered in smog. Nevertheless, things seem to be changing. How does China tackle pollution? About air pollution In
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Waymo, Ford, BMW, Volkswagen Group. These, among some others, are currently the companies that are more likely to be the first to have their driving cars circulating on the road. In fact, self-driving vehicle have become a focal point for many companies in the automobile industry. Why so? Self-driving cars can be defined as motor
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Food (and land) security has become a major issue in the last years. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that one in nine people are chronically undernourished. With the world’s population expected to increase up to 9-11 billion by 2050, an urgent question has risen: how will we feed ourselves in the
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Comparing the U.S. policies
1st October, 2017. A mass shooting in Las Vegas kills 58 people and injures 851 more. 5th November, 2017. A mass shooting in Texas kills 26 peoples, 20 injured. 14th February, 2018. Mass shooting in a high school in Florida, 17 people killed and 16 more injured. Those are latest ones. The big ones. Gun
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During this Christmas, I came to read a newspaper article that caught my attention: in Spain, my country of origin, pets are no longer going to be personal custodies as of December 2017. This means that in case of a divorce, agreements can be reached to share the custody and the costs of pets between
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