Economics, politics, and European policy by Luis Garicano
Prof. Luis Garicano is a Spanish economist and former Member of the European Parliament, where he served as vice-president of the Renew Europe group from 2019 to 2022. In 2024, he joined Columbia University as a visiting scholar in the Department of Economics, focusing on monetary innovation and financial regulation. Garicano previously held a chair at the London School of Economics, with academic work cited over 5,600 times across institutional policy papers and journals.
Garicano played a pivotal role in European Union discussions on the digital euro and its implementation under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). His white paper co-authored with Banque de France officials modeled design trade-offs for CBDC deployment and interoperability standards. At the 2025 OECD Blockchain Forum, Garicano advised on smart-contract legal frameworks and transaction privacy guarantees.
With policy experience and scholarly credibility, Garicano continues to shape how European monetary authorities incorporate blockchain infrastructure into sovereign currency systems.
Landlords in Madrid and Barcelona screen renters amid rent control, Luis Garicano notes
Landlords in Madrid and Barcelona are now screening renters, according to Luis Garicano. Garicano stated that, as a direct outcome of rent control policies, the most vulnerable individuals—who ...
Luis Garicano: José Andrés gives an accurate basic economics lesson
Luis Garicano finds it amusing that José Andrés, known as chefjoseandres, delivers a basic economics lesson and faces criticism from some commentators who claim that José Andrés does not know ...
Luis Garicano: Chef José Andrés offers accurate economic insights for politicians
Luis Garicano points out that chef José Andrés provides a correct assessment on economic matters and criticizes the need for a chef to teach economics to politicians and supposed experts. He ...
France needs primary surplus to stabilize debt, Luis Garicano notes
Luis Garicano highlights the economic challenge facing France due to its high debt levels. According to Garicano, with debt at 120% of GDP and nominal GDP growth at 3%, an average borrowing cost ...
Annual AI revenue must reach 9.2% of projected 2032 GDP, Luis Garicano notes
Luis Garicano draws attention to the scale of investment required for data centers to break even on artificial intelligence. According to Garicano, for all data center owners to reach break-even ...
Canceling debt breaches contract and reveals two possible reasons, Luis Garicano notes
Luis Garicano argues that explaining accounting movements to the public is often futile. He presents two understandable alternatives, referencing a recent statement by Angel Ubide: canceling debt ...
Luis Garicano: U.S. faces fiscal challenges amid strong investment activity
Luis Garicano draws attention to the serious fiscal situation in the U.S. as the country experiences a surge in investment. He describes the fiscal outlook as 'insane' and highlights this as a key ...
Luis Garicano: Economic growth in South and East Asia linked to decline in poverty
Luis Garicano argues that the largest increase in billionaires has occurred in South Asia and East Asia, regions where economies have grown significantly and poverty has sharply decreased. He ...
Chart shows share of U.S. government revenue spent on programs, Luis Garicano argues
Luis Garicano highlights a perspective from Hanno Lustig, noting that bond holders are effectively the most junior claimants on tax revenue due to the political power of retirees. Garicano ...
Luis Garicano: Europe not in economic decline versus U.S. based on PPP analysis
Luis Garicano responds to discussions about Europe’s economic performance relative to the U.S. Using Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) as a metric, Garicano addresses arguments by Paul Krugman ...
Luis Garicano: Revenue growth at OpenAI and Anthropic may not lead to profits
Luis Garicano raises concerns about the profitability of OpenAI and Anthropic despite their reported revenue growth. Citing analysis from EpochAI, Garicano suggests the companies could be ...
Luis Garicano: Italy wasted recovery fund as €220bn super bonus goes unmentioned
Luis Garicano criticizes how Italy handled the recovery and reconstruction fund, which he helped to advance and negotiate. He says Italy squandered the funds, and adds that Spain faces a similar ...
New housing construction lowers prices while scarcity drives increases, Luis Garicano notes
Luis Garicano highlights that new data from a leading U.S. newspaper editorial supports a fundamental economic principle: in areas where housing construction increases, prices tend to fall, while ...
Dollar reserve status valuation estimated using price theory, Luis Garicano notes
Luis Garicano, industry influencer, highlights research on the economic value of the dollar's reserve currency status. According to Garicano, Arvid Krishnamurthy used a supply and demand ...
Markets price U.S. Treasuries as risky when yields rise on fiscal news, Luis Garicano notes
Luis Garicano, industry influencer, highlights insights from a presentation by Hanno Lustig at Hoover Institution regarding the changing perception of the U.S. Treasury market. He notes that ...
Poland’s rise in U.S. per capita GDP share signals economic divergence, Luis Garicano notes
Luis Garicano, industry influencer, examines how a security shock is intensifying the economic divide within Europe. He points out that Europe is experiencing both convergence and divergence, ...
