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The article focuses on a survey conducted by the American Economic Association (AEA), which reveals that less number of economists under the age of 44 felt valued within the discipline. It mentions that the profession has become more relaxed about minimum wages, inflation and public debt; less relaxed about monopoly power; less enamoured of flexible exchange rates; and more open to deep, institutional explanations of wealth and poverty.

In the run up to the budget in April 2003, business lobbies have been waging an increasingly vocal and desperate campaign to get the government to stop what they see as infernal meddling. When Labour first came to power, tycoons queued up to serve on committees of the great and the good. There was even a sprinkling in the government. Now there are a couple of business people in government at most, and a few assorted media and consulting types hanging around Downing Street. Labour is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of British business. To be fair, businesses have been mostly happy with macro-economic policy. Interest rates have been fairly stable and low. And despite the alarming number of shocks to the world economy, Britain's has continued to grow as Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer, repeatedly points out. He was at it again at this week's British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) conference, though what most delegates would have preferred was some response to their many gripes. On one big issue--tax--business has been particularly unhappy. The more general complaint is that the government is quick to go for blunt regulatory fixes, when sometimes there are other alternatives: education, say, or nothing at all.

The article focuses on minimum wage in Mexico in 2014. Topics include the wage suppression tactics used by the Mexican government to reduce inflation, the cost of living in Mexico, and why the Mexican minimum wage is below the poverty line. Information is provided on Mexican Central Bank Governor Agustín Carstens' plan to improve labor productivity as a step in raising the minimum wage.

The article looks at minimum-wage policies, as of 2012. It describes the debate among economists over their effects, citing empirical research in the U.S. by economists David Card, Alan Krueger, Arindrajit Dube and Michael Reich showing no job loss due to minimum wage laws, and contrary results in research by economists David Neumark and William Wascher. The administration of the minimum-wage policy in Great Britain is explained.