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The 2024 Nobel Prize for economics has been awarded to three economists for their work over the past two decades on understanding wealth disparities between countries.
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson were awarded the prize for showing that institutions set up during colonisation have had an enduring impact on economic outcomes. At a press conference Johnson said the basic finding of the trio’s work was that, while episodes of strong growth were possible under any regime, inclusive institutions were a much better foundation “if you want to sustain that growth over time”. Renaud Foucart unpacks their findings.
In Latin America it’s been the season for marking the day on which countries achieved independence. Elena Jackson sets out the ways in which these events signal a nation’s values and how countries wrestle with the meaning of the holidays - from “Día de la Raza” celebrations that originally extolled Spanish culture to anti-colonial protests today.
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Renaud Foucart, Lancaster University
US-based Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson were recognised for their work on the vast differences in prosperity between nations.
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Elena Jackson Albarrán, Miami University
Many US states and cities have renamed Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day. But wrestling over the explorer’s legacy has a longer – and even more fraught – history in Latin America.
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Eirini Karamouzi, University of Sheffield; Luc-André Brunet, The Open University
The 2024 Nobel peace prize has been awarded to Japanese anti-nuclear group, Nihon Hidankyo.
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Stéphane Berneau, University of Central Lancashire
It’s rare for medical research to be truly ‘groundbreaking’, but the case study from China showing that stem cell therapy can reverse type 1 diabetes is worthy of this adjective.
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Paul Rogers, University of Bradford
If there is ever to be a more peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine, then the position of hardline Israelis has to be recognised.
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Alexander C. Lees, Manchester Metropolitan University
The average size of monitored wildlife populations has shrunk by 73% since 1970.
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Nicholas Westcott, SOAS, University of London
British governments have neglected Africa and the Commonwealth due to domestic political and economic difficulties since Brexit.
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Laura Brettell, University of Salford; Richard Birtles, University of Salford
Wetland virus caused flu-like symptoms that progressed into multiple organ failure in one patient.
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Serag El Hegazi, University of Bradford
Tunisia’s president has won a second term in an election marred by repression.
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Thankom Arun, University of Essex
Tata’s trail blazer has died aged 86.
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Jannie Rossouw, University of the Witwatersrand
Mboweni leaves a legacy of a successful transformation from a freedom fighter to a businessman, central banker and politician.
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