On behalf of the 2025-26 Stanford Economic Review Editorial Board, we are pleased to present the fourteenth volume of Stanford University’s undergraduate economics journal. Readers can see the full paper here. This academic year, we received submissions from across the world, and this publication represents a phenomenal and diverse set of topics. From trade shocks… Continue reading Our 2026 Issue
COMMENTARY: CBDC: Currency, Commerce and Crisis
Sofie Festa, Stanford University -- Today, crisis management is more essential than ever in financial and monetary policies. Reports of asset bubbles are dominating the news, while concerns about their burst arise. Governments are seeking new strategies to protect economies from future crises, beginning with shifting the current financial system.
COMMENTARY: Climate Tech’s Orphans: Why Silicon Valley Abandons the Hardware Solutions Saving our Planet
Liza Poliakova, University of Oxford -- On a lava plain outside Reykjavik, a new piece of plumbing offers a glimpse of a lower-carbon future. Climeworks’ ‘Mammoth’, the world's biggest direct-air-capture plant, silently removes CO2 from the air.
COMMENTARY: Gridlocked: The Laotian Debt Crisis, U.S.-China Tensions, and the Cost of Economic Dependence
Akshay Mediwala, University of Southern California -- Laos’ debt serviceability struggles have persisted throughout 2025 and have been facilitated by increasing reliance on the Chinese government.
COMMENTARY: Why India Falls Short in Global Tourism: A Data Deficit at the Core
Reyansh Girdhar, University of Virginia -- India presents itself as one of the world’s richest tourism landscapes with forty UNESCO sites, diverse ecosystems, deep cultural heritage, and the world’s largest diaspora acting as a natural global marketing engine.
COMMENTARY: Stop Drinking Water—I Need It For ChatGPT
Tanya Rastogi, Stanford University -- Artificial intelligence entails profound water and energy costs, much of which are shouldered by rural communities in the United States.
COMMENTARY: Disinflation Without Relief: Why 2026 Still Feels Like a Cost-of-Living Crisis
Siddharth Bellam, Stanford University -- Inflation is cooling, and by most macroeconomic measures, the United States appears to have avoided a recession. For policymakers, these figures amount to vindication. For a large share of American households, however, they mean very little.
COMMENTARY: Philanthropy’s Power Problem
Elizabeth Bours, Stanford University -- Overwhelming wealth has long produced overwhelming influence. From the Gilded Age’s industrial titans to today’s tech billionaires, philanthropy has served as both a vehicle for social good and a mechanism for consolidating private power.
COMMENTARY: The Evolution, Growth, and Precarious Future of Private Credit
Abby Medin, Stanford University -- Private credit represents a necessary evolution of capital markets, improving efficiency and access to financing– but only with transparency and effective risk management.