Europe’s productivity is more dynamic than aggregate statistics suggest
Aggregate productivity growth in Europe has disappointed over the last two decades, fuelling concerns about competitiveness. This column argues that firm-level evidence points to a
Industrial policy in complementary markets: Lessons from India’s 4G rollout
Governments increasingly use protection and targeted subsidies to promote domestic firms. These policies are usually evaluated in the market they target. This column uses India’s
How regulatory risk and expropriation threats are affecting Berlin’s housing market
Housing shortages and rising rents have become a source of political pressure in many countries, prompting calls for stronger intervention in rental markets. This column
A comparison of labour force participation trends in the euro area and the US
The labour force participation rate in the euro area has risen in recent years while it has declined in the US, significantly narrowing the gap
Firms slice up global production to protect their knowhow
Imitation is a first-order concern for enterprises operating global production processes. Firms routinely source knowledge-intensive inputs from many countries, including those with weak intellectual property
Nine centuries of cultural change and the productivity of ideas
Economic historians have long placed culture at the centre of the rise of the West, but have lacked a measure of culture spanning the emergence
Macrofinance meets AI: Evaluating alignment between LLMs and economists
Many public institutions are now experimenting with AI tools to support surveillance, supervision, and policy analysis, raising questions about which analytical tasks can be delegated
The bank collateral channel of monetary policy: Evidence from securities losses
Sharp increases in interest rates can reduce the market value of banks’ securities holdings and threaten financial stability. Using euro area data for 2022-2023, this
Foreign exporters absorbed nearly half of the 2025 US tariff shock
When the US imposed sweeping tariff increases in 2025, most economic forecasters predicted a sharp rise in consumer prices and significant import disruption. Instead, retail
Europe’s regulatory double bind
The European Union’s AI Act – the world’s most ambitious regulatory framework for artificial intelligence to date – was supposed to enter into full effect
