Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Sun, Oct 04, 2026 07:05 AM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

Miranda Sheild Johansson

Senior Research Fellow in Social Anthropology, UCL
I am a social anthropologist specialising in the dynamics of fiscal systems and the sociality of tax, with a particular emphasis on the Andean region, where I have undertaken long-term fieldwork in a rural Quechua-speaking community, as well as in the peri-urban zones of Cochabamba city. In 2022 I commenced my UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship project, ‘The Sociality of Tax: A Multiperspective Study of Fiscal Relations (SocTax)’. The project investigates fiscal regimes and cultures in an anthropological fashion comparing Bolivia, the UK, and Sweden, and exploring the types of social relations that paying and not paying tax produce in different ethnographic settings. I'm a member of the Anthropology of Tax network (tax-anthro.net), founder and convenor of EASA's Anthropology of Tax Network, and affiliate of UCL's Centre for Capitalism.

I am also a member of the ERC-funded project 'Anthropologies of Extortion', working as part of an international groups of scholars to map and analyse cultures of extortion. In 2017 I was awarded the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship for my project 'Becoming a Taxpayer: Fiscal Expansion and Economic Subjectivities in Bolivia'. Before that I worked as a Teaching Fellow in the Anthropology department at UCL 2016/17. I received my Ph.D. in Anthropology from the London School of Economics (ESRC-funded) in 2014, MSc (Research) from London School of Economics (ESRC-funded) in 2007, and MA (hons) in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh in 2005.

Taxes aren’t just about money – they shape how we think about each other

Mar 07, 2024 07:40 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Taxes raising them, cutting them, creating them are useful political tools in an election year (as Chancellor Jeremy Hunts decision to cut national insurance shows). But they are always pertinent, even if some people...

Economy

Scope Warns US Debt Could Hit 160% of GDP

Scope Ratings warned that the United States is becoming increasingly vulnerable to shifts in investor sentiment as persistent budget deficits drive government debt and interest costs higher. The European credit ratings...

Bank of America Sees EUR/USD at 1.15 by Year-End

Bank of America expects the euro to strengthen against the U.S. dollar over the coming year, forecasting EUR/USD will reach 1.15 by the end of this year before climbing to 1.20 by the end of 2027, according to a research...

G20 Divided Over US Push to Curb Industrial Overcapacity

A U.S.-led effort to tackle excess industrial capacity and non-market economic policies failed to secure unanimous support from Group of 20 trade ministers, highlighting persistent divisions among the worlds major...

Fed’s Hammack Says More Data Needed Before Next Rate Move

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said policymakers have time to review additional economic data before determining their next move on U.S. interest rates, signaling that the latest weak jobs report...

AI Agents Could Disrupt Financial Services, Bernstein Says

Consumer AI agents could reshape financial services by reducing customer inertia and making it easier to switch between financial products, although trust, data access and regulatory hurdles may slow adoption, according to...

Politics

Flydubai FZ1073 Co-Pilot Accused of Terror Attack

The co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 attempted to carry out a terrorist attack with a crash axe while the aircraft was flying to Israel, the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general said Saturday. The co-pilot was...

Merz to Meet ECB Frontrunners Knot and De Cos

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is preparing to meet the two leading candidates to succeed European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde as negotiations over the ECBs future leadership gather pace, Bloomberg reported,...

Xi Rest Breaks Cut Trump Summit Schedule, WSJ Reports

Chinese President Xi Jinpings delegation requested extended rest periods during his recent Washington summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, reducing the time available for meetings between the two leaders, according to...

Iran Faces Rising Pressure as U.S. Builds Military Presence

Iran is coming under intensifying economic and military pressure as the United States strengthens its forces in the Middle East while regional oil exports recover toward pre-war levels, according to Bloomberg. The Trump...

Trump Heads to Ohio to Boost Husted in Tight Senate Race

U.S. President Donald Trump will campaign in Ohio on Saturday as Republicans fight to retain their narrow congressional majority, with the states closely contested U.S. Senate race emerging as a key midterm battleground....

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

SoftBank Shares Fall After $10 Billion OpenAI Investment

SoftBank Group shares dropped sharply on Friday after the Japanese technology conglomerate completed the final portion of its latest OpenAI investment, lifting its total investment in the artificial intelligence company to...

Amazon Eyes $8 Billion Nvidia Chip Spinoff to Fund AI Expansion

Amazon is exploring a plan to transfer roughly $8 billion worth of advanced Nvidia artificial intelligence chips to outside investors as the technology giant looks for new ways to finance its rapidly expanding AI...

California AG Subpoenas OpenAI Over AI Cybersecurity Incidents

California Attorney General Rob Bonta served OpenAI with an investigative subpoena Wednesday, escalating a state investigation into cybersecurity incidents involving the artificial intelligence company and its models. The...

WordPress Malware Uses Ethereum to Evade Removal

Security researchers have uncovered a persistent WordPress malware strain that uses Ethereum infrastructure for command-and-control communications, making infected websites unusually difficult to clean. According to...

DogeOS Launches Testnet to Bring DeFi Apps to Dogecoin

DogeOS has launched a public testnet designed to bring Ethereum-style decentralized finance applications to Dogecoin, potentially expanding DOGEs utility beyond payments and price speculation. The Ethereum-compatible...