ARTICLES

Their Portugal, Our Portugal: more developed, but harder to start At some point, every conversation with our parents seems to land on the same line: “When I was your age, I already...”. It is usually followed by a milestone: a stable job, a rented apartment, or even buying a home. And they are not lying. Portugal is far more developed today, but the path to those milestones has not become equally easier. There is an undeniable reality: Portugal is a much more developed countr

Rules Changed: How AI Can Break Institutions' Historical Role Douglas North stated that institutions are the "rules of the game" - the formal and informal laws that structure human interaction. Since the publication of his landmark book Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (1990) that framing has held arbitrarily true across disciplines, from law to economics, from political science to sociology. Governments legislate, courts adjudicate, central banks c

Do Minimum Wage Hikes Build Economies or Win Elections? In Portugal, the debate over the minimum wage increases has been ongoing for the past decade. This topic relies on both economic and political views: while economists debate its impact on employment, productivity, and competitiveness, politicians present it as a tool for fairness and economic growth. Proponents argue that a rise in the minimum wage, apart from reducing inequalities, also stimulates consumption by increas