1. , Bengt Holmström & Nicolas Petit – The Constitution of Innovation: A New European Renaissance
    • The authors argue Europe has lost its economic edge by drifting from its original purpose: prosperity through market integration and innovation, not regulatory sprawl.
    • They detail how decades of growth were undone by bureaucratic overreach, with internal trade now hampered by the equivalent of 44% tariffs on goods and 110% on services. !
    • Proposals include ending the overuse of EU directives, establishing specialised commercial courts, enforcing true mutual recognition, and reviving a “28th regime” for pan-European business.
    • Central to their vision is revitalising creative destruction: enabling firm entry and exit, encouraging risk, and rewarding innovation over protectionism.
    • The Constitution of Innovation – constitutionofinnovation.eu
  2. Peter Temin – The Labor Supply of the Early Roman Empire
    • Temin overturns the standard view of Ancient Rome as a static slave economy, arguing instead that a real, functional labour market existed across free and slave populations.
    • Roman slavery, unlike the closed systems of the Americas, was “open”: frequent manumission and legal integration of freedpeople created incentives akin to free-market dynamics.
    • Wage data suggests price responsiveness and regional comparability, with slaves and free workers alike participating in markets for skilled and unskilled labour.
    • Educated slaves were common, and the expectation of eventual freedom gave many an incentive structure similar to that of indentured servants or employees on performance contracts.
    • The labour market in Rome, especially urban centres, mirrored early modern Europe more than feudal economies, responsive, incentivised, and socially mobile (at least for some).
    • The Labor Supply of the Early Roman Empire – MIT Economics
  3. UNICEF – State of the World’s Children 2023
    • Excellent news : from 2000 to 2023, the share of children facing “severe deprivation” dropped from 65.1% to 40.6%, a global shift driven not by income, but by access to basic services.
    • This multidimensional metric includes education, water, sanitation, housing, nutrition, and health, not just money.
    • Gains came from infrastructure investment, health initiatives, and expanded schooling, though progress has slowed in fragile and climate-exposed regions.