Wiley: Economic Affairs: Table of Contents

Adam Smith and market urbanism

Eugenio Gerardo Garza Garza — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:35:47 -0700

Economic Affairs, EarlyView.

A critical look at green energy policies

Lawrence Haar — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 08:15:21 -0700

Economic Affairs, EarlyView.

Attitudes towards the market economy and capitalism in Ukraine, Poland and Russia

Rainer Zitelmann — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 02:36:57 -0700

Abstract

This article presents the results of opinion polls conducted in Ukraine, Poland, and Russia, focusing on attitudes towards the market economy and capitalism. The polls first asked six questions about the market economy without explicitly referencing ‘capitalism’. The only countries in which attitudes towards the ‘market economy’ are more positive than in Ukraine are Poland, the United States, the Czech Republic, South Korea, and Japan, while opinions are more negative in 30 countries. The most negative attitude towards the market economy in our survey across 36 countries was found among respondents in Russia. The survey also featured an association test with ten terms related to capitalism, along with 18 additional statements – both positive and negative – about capitalism. Among the 36 countries surveyed, the level of support for ‘capitalism’ in Ukraine is only exceeded by Poland, while it is similarly high in the United States. In 33 countries, however, overall perceptions of capitalism are more negative than in Ukraine. In contrast, general opinions of capitalism were more negative in only two of the 36 countries than in Russia.

UK monetary and fiscal policy since 2007: Could we have done better?

Terence Burns — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Economic Affairs, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 2-16, February 2026.

Debt as a US defence spending consideration since the end of World War II. Part Two: Nixon to Biden

David Tier — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Abstract

American presidents since 1945 have deliberately considered reducing defence spending as part of a plan to shrink deficits, but they have also found there is a level of defence spending they dare not fall beneath. Using qualitative analysis, I examine the rhetoric these leaders have articulated to consider the trade-offs between the economic costs of deficit spending and the military budgets necessary to defend the nation against military threats. Part One of this study (published in Economic Affairs, vol. 45, no. 3) examined rhetoric through the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. Part Two examines rhetoric from the Nixon through Biden administrations, analyses the total results and, finally, sets out the contribution of this research. These results inform debates over the US national debt, deficit spending, and the mixture of spending cuts and revenue increases needed to achieve a balanced budget.

The government–robber comparison: A long‐standing tradition beyond avowed libertarianism

Brian Mandeville — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Abstract

A government differs from a robber, but they share the common feature of initiating coercion. This similarity has been noticed by libertarians as well as within a distinct scholarly tradition and as a recurring theme throughout Western philosophy. Twentieth-century political economists have employed this comparison to understand state formation and institutional behaviour. Philosophers from ancient Greece to the Enlightenment have recognised the fundamental similarities between governmental and criminal coercion in the context of examining questions of legitimacy and justice. The government–robber comparison has been an analytical tool of accepted standing throughout Western intellectual history that deserves contemporary consideration.

Why is competition in the European football market failing, and what should be done about it?

Magnus Henrekson, Lars Persson — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Abstract

The European football (soccer) market increasingly funnels rents to superstar players and intermediaries while weakening competitive balance. We trace this dynamic to two forces: (a) technological innovation that globalised broadcasting and magnified superstar returns, and (b) legal rulings boosting player mobility and causing bidding wars. The 2024 Diarra ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union further loosens transfer constraints, and will likely intensify talent concentration at ‘superclubs’. The result is soaring salaries and transfer fees, persistent financial fragility among non-elite clubs, and growing predictability of match outcomes. We evaluate reform options that preserve Europe's open-league tradition yet borrow from North American competitive-balance tools: greater revenue sharing, hard/soft salary caps, and draft-like mechanisms. These should be complemented by a ‘cartel tax’ to fund youth sport, and club-governance codes plus credible financial-sustainability rules.

The attitude of the Turkish population towards markets, wealth and capitalism

Murat Çokgezen — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Abstract

Although most countries today have a capitalist economic system, people's views on capitalism and its features differ. This study aims to assess Turkish people's views on the market mechanism, wealth, and capitalism in general. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 2011 respondents in 28 Turkish cities in 2024. The survey results show that Turkish people's views on the market mechanism, wealth, and capitalism in general are not positive. These views do not differ systematically by gender, age, education or income. The study also suggests that these attitudes may be related to the fact that the state has played an important role in Turkey's economy since its inception and has become more active since 2010.

Your life versus their jobs: The political economy of transport safety automation

Roslyn Layton — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Abstract

This article examines regulatory misalignment in US transportation policy, highlighting the tolerance of high roadway fatalities (100 + per day) alongside resistance to safety-enhancing automation in sectors such as aviation and rail. Despite proven risk reduction, modernisation of air traffic control and deployment of autonomous freight trains face institutional constraints from unions and sector-specific regulators. Meanwhile driverless vehicles navigate complex roads in the United States, autonomous public transport has operated reliably for decades, and automated freight trains routinely traverse China and Australia. Through comparative sectoral analysis, the article argues that fragmented governance and stakeholder pressures impede adoption of automation that could improve safety outcomes.

Modern Monetary Theory: The Bolshevik experiment

Nikolay Nenovsky, Kevin Dowd — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Abstract

In this article we present the monetary theory, known as the ‘Theory of the Emission Economy’, most fully formulated over a century ago by the Russian economist S. A. Falkner (1890–1938). It is strikingly reminiscent of Modern Monetary Theory. The Theory of the Emission Economy was put into practice soon after the October 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and ended in an inflationary catastrophe. Lenin himself, who at first shared its basic ideas, was eventually forced to support a monetary stabilisation based on the introduction of gold coins, the chervonets, that was completed in early 1924, and which ultimately resolved the monetary crisis along conventional monetary lines. This disastrous Bolshevik monetary experiment stands as a clear warning to modern MMT advocates who seek to implement it in a contemporary setting.

Employer attitudes to concurrent employment: An analysis of the European Union and Ukraine

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Abstract

This article examines concurrent employment as a growing feature of contemporary labour markets in the European Union and Ukraine. It analyses employer attitudes, legal regulation, and the impact of external shocks such as digitalisation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. Using comparative legal analysis, literature review, and statistical data, the study identifies common trends and contextual differences between the two regions. The findings show that while the EU emphasises regulated flexibility and worker protection, Ukraine demonstrates greater employer tolerance driven by wartime economic necessity, highlighting the adaptive role of concurrent employment in crisis conditions.

Banking's transformation and the harmful effects of too much finance

Guangdong Xu — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Economic Affairs, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 150-156, February 2026.

How countries go broke: The big cycle. By Ray Dalio. Avid Reader Press. 2025. 400 pp. £30.00 (hbk). ISBN: 978‐1501124068. £15.99 (Kindle ed.). ISBN: 978‐1501124075

Milena Mazzoli — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Economic Affairs, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 157-159, February 2026.

The European Miracle and beyond: Essays in honour of Professor E. L. Jones Edited by Gary B. Magee and Kent Deng. Palgrave Macmillan. 2025. 267 pp. £179.99 (hbk). ISBN: 978‐3031902475. £143.50 (ebk). ISBN: 978‐3031902482

Michael James — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Economic Affairs, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 166-169, February 2026.

Introduction

J R Shackleton — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Economic Affairs, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 1-1, February 2026.

Issue Information

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

No abstract is available for this article.

Correction to ‘Exploitation of Eurosystem loopholes and their quantitative reconstruction’

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Economic Affairs, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 170-170, February 2026.

False dawn: The New Deal and the promise of recovery, 1933–1947 By George Selgin. University of Chicago Press. 2025. 384 pp. £28.00 (hbk). ISBN: 978‐0226832937. £26.57 (Kindle ed.). ISBN: 978‐0226838991

Forrest Capie — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Economic Affairs, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 163-165, February 2026.

The political economy of central banking: A short history of the changing role of central banks. By Alessandro Roselli. Palgrave Macmillan. 2024. 348 pp. £109.99 (hbk). ISBN: 978‐3031770357. £87.50 (ebk). ISBN: 978‐3031770364

Gabriel Stein — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Economic Affairs, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 160-162, February 2026.