Where should the world invest?

Should U.S. Investors Invest Overseas?

I nterest in foreign investment has been high among U.S. investors in recent years. The unprecedented growth of 401k pension plans has greatly increased the number of people who must make their own investment decisions in planning for their retirement. Many investors know that geographic diversification can improve investment returns without increasing risk. However, whether or not to invest ab...

Should You Invest in the Long Tail?

How and Where Should We Invest in Europe? an Economic Geography of Global Finance

For some, global finance is ubiquitous and penetrates into every corner of the world. In this case, the growth of advanced electronic communications coupled with top-down investment strategies has provided institutional investors entry into even the most sheltered of capital markets including those of continental Europe. By contrast, many economic geographers find this view of the world both si...

Should Governments Invest More in Nudging?

Governments are increasingly adopting behavioral science techniques for changing individual behavior in pursuit of policy objectives. The types of "nudge" interventions that governments are now adopting alter people's decisions without coercion or significant changes to economic incentives. We calculated ratios of impact to cost for nudge interventions and for traditional policy tools, such as ...

How Should Public Pension Plans Invest?

How public pension plan assets should be invested is an important but unsettled question. Alicia H. Munnell and Mauricio Soto (2007) find that the share of state and local (S&L) plan assets held in equities has grown over time, largely in parallel with private sector practices, from an average of about 40 percent in the late 1980s to about 70 percent in 2007. This exposure led to a loss of an e...