(AGENPARL) – Tue 18 March 2025 Viral narratives could be the missing link between emotions and economic fluctuations
F&D header [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]
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How Animal Spirits Affect the Economy [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/how-animal-spirits-affect-the-economy-karthik-sastry?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]
*MARCH 2025*
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Animal Spirits [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/how-animal-spirits-affect-the-economy-karthik-sastry?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]
(Credit: Getty Images/WLDavies)
Dear Colleague,
Storytelling is central to how we interpret economic events. We recall economic history through haunting images of anxious crowds waiting to take money out of banks during the Great Depression. We grapple with the consequences of artificial intelligence by channeling our hopes and fears into science fiction.
But do stories themselves influence the economy? John Maynard Keynes said that “animal spirits”—instincts and emotions that influence behavior—can explain economic booms and busts. The economist Robert Shiller has pushed for more research into the contagious narratives that shape people’s economic decisions.
Writing in F&D magazine, Yale University’s Joel Flynn and Princeton University’s Karthik Sastry present new natural-language-processing tools for measuring economic narratives and their importance for the US business cycle based on companies’ conference calls and Form 10-K filings.
“Viral narratives could be the missing link between emotions and economic fluctuations,” they say.
*Read more* [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/how-animal-spirits-affect-the-economy-karthik-sastry?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]
The Economics of Talent
F&D cover for March 2025 [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]
Every great leap in human progress—from the printing press to the steam engine to the semiconductor—has been driven by ideas. But ideas do not emerge in a vacuum; they come from people. The latest issue of F&D examines the most talented minds that push the boundaries of what is possible.
Feature Articles*
*The Talent Equation [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/the-talent-equation-ruchir-agarwal?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]* | The new “economics of talent” aims to identify and nurture exceptional problem-solvers at an early stage | *Ruchir Agarwal *and *Patrick Gaule*
*Innovation’s Unseen Frontier [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/innovations-unseen-frontier-xavier-jaravel?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]* | Democratizing innovation can harness untapped talent and spur economic growth | *Xavier Jaravel*
*A Place for Human Talent in the Age of AI* [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/a-place-for-human-talent-in-the-ai-age-marina-tavares?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ] | Artificial intelligence will limit some human roles but could make others more accessible | *Marina Tavares*
*Global Talent and Economic Success [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/global-talent-and-economic-success-william-kerr?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]* | Access to top performers sets an upper bound on a country’s aspirations | *William Kerr*
*The Power of Education Policy [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/the-power-of-education-policy-amory-gethin?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ] *| Education has been and can continue to be at the center of global poverty reduction | *Amory Gethin*
*The Value of Vocation [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/the-value-of-vocation-maria-petrakis?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]* | Vocational skills training has multiple economic benefits | *Maria Petrakis*
*The Right to Dream [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/the-right-to-dream-andreas-adriano?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ] *| After rising from poverty to parliament, Brazil’s Tabata Amaral wants future prodigies to succeed because of policies rather than luck | *Andreas Adriano*
collage of three F&D magazine covers from March 2025, December 2024, and September 2024 [ https://www.bookstore.imf.org/templates/fdec2?cid=imfo-com-compc-fdlanding&source=fdlanding&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]
Get an overview of the latest thinking on international economic challenges, interactions, and policy responses. 
*Want **to get a free copy?*
*Subscribe now* [ https://www.bookstore.imf.org/templates/fdec2?cid=imfo-com-compc-fdlanding&source=fdlanding&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]
Point of View
illustration for F&D March 2025 Oren Cass article [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/point-of-view-in-search-of-the-invisible-hand-oren-cass?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]
*In Search of the Invisible Hand [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/point-of-view-in-search-of-the-invisible-hand-oren-cass?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]*
 Adam Smith’s capitalism demands constraints on markets, not blind faith in them
*Oren Cass*
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illustration for F&D March 2025 Anne Krueger article [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/point-of-view-how-to-deal-with-debts-downside-anne-krueger?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]
*How to Deal with Debt’s Downside [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/point-of-view-how-to-deal-with-debts-downside-anne-krueger?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]*
International arrangements for rescuing countries from debt distress must be improved
*Anne Krueger*
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Also in this Issue
*Driving Change [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/driving-change-women-led-economics-dani-rodrik?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]* | The developing world’s vibrant research in the face of limited resources offers valuable global insights | *Dani Rodrik*
*Reconnecting Morality with Political Economy [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/reconnecting-morality-with-political-economy-benjamin-enke?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ] *| Putting moral insight back into economics enhances understanding of political outcomes | *Benjamin Enke*
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*Chris Wellisz* profiles the work of Princeton’s Leah Boustan [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/people-in-economics-debunking-myths-chris-wellisz?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ], who uses big data to test commonly held beliefs, for People in Economics.
For Back to Basics, *S. Ali Abbas* and *Eriko Togo* explain government bonds and yield curves [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/back-to-basics-bonds-and-yields-s-ali-abbas?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ].
*Marta Doroszczyk* depicts the findings of a Pew Research Center survey showing mounting concern over the next generation’s financial future [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/picture-this-generational-concerns-marta-doroszczyk?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ] for Picture This.
*Natalia Venegas Figueroa* spotlights Peru’s 200-sol banknote [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/currency-notes-valued-visionary-natalia-venegas-figueroa?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ], which celebrates pioneering painter Tilsa Tsuchiya for Currency Notes.
Turning to books, *Christoph Rosenberg* reviews “Kaput: The End of the German Miracle [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/book-review-deutschlands-denouement-christoph-rosenberg?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ] “by Wolfgang Münchau.
*Lisa Kolovich* reviews “She-Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/book-review-women-on-wall-street-lisa-kolovich?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ]” by Paulina Bren.
*Elizabeth Van Heuvelen* reviews “Industrial Policy, National Security, and the Perilous Plight of the WTO [ https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/book-review-global-trade-and-geopolitics-elizabeth-van-heuvelen?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ] “by Petros C. Mavroidis.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Feel free to contact us.
Nick circle BW
*Nicholas Owen*
Managing Editor | F&D Magazine