Flying first class is getting cheaper — if you don’t mind giving up some perks

The Tax Justice Network has banged the drum about the threats posed by trusts for decades. On 21 May 2026, the European Court of Justice has finally joined us. They have published rulings that directly relate to trusts regarding two major risks: secrecy and asset protection. As we set out below, these represent a significant…

The law of diminishing marginal utility is one of the foundational principles of economics, but its significance extends far beyond the marketplace. The principle states that as a person acquires additional units of a good, the satisfaction gained from each successive unit tends to decline. The first glass of water relieves intense thirst, the second…

The views expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management. Introduction Budgets are the central policy instrument for articulating government priorities, allocating scarce resources, and determining the fiscal stance. They set out governments’ expectations for revenues, borrowing, and spending based…

The framework that has long guided development economics no longer reflects how modern economies actually create value. As the boundaries that once separated sectors become blurred, prosperity increasingly depends on how economies build the ecosystems that sustain technological progress and nurture new productive capacity. CAPE TOWN—The economist Dani Rodrik recently reopened one of development economics’…

Over the July 4th weekend, the Honorable William Reynolds Archer Jr. passed away at the age of 98. Mr. Archer served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971 and the US House of Representatives from 1971 to 2001, including as Chairman of the House Ways and Means CommitteeThe Committee on Ways and Means, more commonly referred…