Low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) have rebounded strongly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Gross national income (GNI) among these countries was resilient in 2023, at $36 trillion — and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that economic growth of developing economies will hold steady at about 4 percent over the next two years. Yet LMICs face […]
When it comes to improving economic outcomes for women and women’s empowerment, effective action requires reliable data. Yet, data capturing the full scope of women’s lives is often scarce, making it hard to identify what holds women—and entire economies and societies—back. Without solid evidence, the path to women enjoying the same opportunities as men is […]
Central banks have increasingly engaged with climate-related topics in their public communication, but little is known about the drivers and effects of this shift. This column presents a comprehensive analysis of climate-related central bank communication using a novel dataset of over 35,000 speeches from 131 central banks spanning 1986-2023. The authors find that climate communication […]
Trade uncertainty between the EU and the US – driven by the announcement of new tariffs and a volatile global economy – has raised concerns for EU businesses, workers, and policymakers. This column presents evidence on the sectoral and regional exposure of EU labour markets to exports to the US. In manufacturing – the sector […]
Combining product and capital market reforms at EU level with labour market and social policies at national level would be desirable, particularly within the euro area. The Lisbon Agenda has failed to deliver this coordination. The best policy strategy would be for the EU to go back to basics and focus all efforts on completing […]
In the context of financing Ukraine’s wartime economy, Western governments have paid little attention to how Ukrainians are funding the war themselves. This column analyses giving to Ukraine’s largest non-governmental provider of lethal aid, Come Back Alive. Using high-frequency daily donation data, it finds that civilian fatalities and frontline media reports generate immediate and significant […]
Violence against women intensified under COVID-19 lockdowns. The most rigorous literature evaluating the impact of stay-at-home measures, job loss, and social isolation on various forms of violence against women, including femicide highlights two effective policy responses: specialised support services and emergency cash transfers. Drawing on recent findings from Brazil and broader international evidence, this column […]
Fuel and carbon prices are typically assessed based on their effectiveness in reducing emissions, while their broader societal benefits often go overlooked. This column evaluates one of the world’s largest environmental tax experiments – Germany’s eco-tax reform – and finds that it led to sizable reductions not only in carbon emissions but also in harmful […]
Trade with China displaced large parts of the American workforce in the 2000s, but Germany did not experience a similar shock at the time. This column argues that the ‘China shock’ has hit the German economy since 2020, particularly in its core automobile and machinery sectors. To avoid America’s painful de-industrialisation of the 2000s, Chinese […]
During the past 20 years, the world economy has suffered two major crises in the form of the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. This column identifies the turning points of recessions and expansions in 101 advanced and developing economies between 1990 and 2022 and analyses the drivers of economic recovery. Across the sample, […]
