CBDC neutrality, bank liquidity, and the hybrid nature of bank deposits
There are concerns that the widespread adoption of central bank digital currencies could drain bank deposits and weaken banks’ ability to lend, but it has
Beyond cost-cutting: How foundational process innovations drive sustained growth
Innovation is widely viewed as the engine of economic growth, but we know surprisingly little about how different types of innovation shape firm growth and
Tall buildings lead to more compact and productive cities
Land-use regulations, including height limits, affect housing affordability and urban productivity. This column analyses over 11,000 urban agglomerations and 300,000 tall buildings to explore the
Too fast to adjust: Adoption speed and the permanent cost of AI transitions
Most debate about AI and jobs still starts with the automation frontier: how many tasks machines can eventually perform. This column argues that is the
The EU’s new fiscal rules: First gaps between hopes and outcomes
The 2024 reform of the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact introduced medium-term expenditure paths as the centrepiece of a new, country-specific surveillance framework. This column
Forward-looking labour supply: Lessons from Poland’s pension reform
A central motivation behind pension reforms over the past three decades has been to strengthen the link between social security contributions during working life and
On the decentralisation of money, contracts, and finance using blockchain
Blockchain was launched amid the global financial crisis with the goal of decentralising money and payments, to avoid the problems associated with their delegation to
Measuring national technological trajectories using 200 years of international patent data
Innovation underpins sustained long-run economic growth, yet measuring technological success is challenging. This column compiles two centuries of patent data and leverages filings in multiple
Causal evidence on cost-of-living shocks: How the energy crisis affected energy demand, labour supply, and financial strain
In a cost-of-living shock, households must cope with lower purchasing power while also substituting away from goods whose prices have risen. The distributional consequences of
Ageing like China: China’s pension reform debate enters a new phase
China is undergoing a sharp demographic transition: rapid population ageing, a shrinking labour force, persistently low fertility, and continued urbanisation. Using an overlapping-generations framework, this
