Donald Trump has promised a raft of new tariffs, prompting concerns about a concomitant increase in inflation. This column argues that tariffs do not necessarily raise inflation, which is a macroeconomic phenomenon. Assumptions about how tariffs and trade evolve – whether tariff changes are temporary or permanent, and whether trade reacts immediately to those changes […]
Censorship has left a lasting imprint on languages and publishing practices around the world. This column analyses the impact of state censorship on knowledge production during the largest book-banning campaign in Chinese history, from 1772 to 1783. Categories subjected to stricter censorship – including history, conflicts, and religious studies – saw significant declines in publication […]
Differences in consumption patterns between lower- and higher-income households suggest the potential for inflation inequality, but evidence on the scale and drivers of this disparity remains scarce. This column uses ‘distributional consumer price indices’ to reveal a clear and systematic gap in inflation rates across income percentiles in the US, reflecting the varying consumption patterns […]
The role of firms in explaining pay differentials is well documented. At the same time, there is growing evidence that market power of employers is substantial and widespread across countries. This column uses detailed Social Security data for Lithuania over two decades to bridge these two lines of evidence. The analysis suggests that wage inequality […]
While the urgency for strict policy actions against climate change is widely recognised, the inflationary effects of the green transition are unclear. This column analyses the impact of climate change policies on the price level, distinguishing between different types of policy, inflation regimes, income groups, and regional/sectoral characteristics. The inflationary effects of green regulations are […]
The Mobile Salary Payment reform in Afghanistan was an ambitious effort to build administrative capacity in one of the world’s most fragile states. This column examines the impact of the reform to shed light on what helps to improve state performance, and how fragility can impede institutional and economic development. While technology in the form […]
The 2015 Swiss franc appreciation provided researchers with a unique empirical setting for understanding how large exchange rate movements shape economic outcomes. This column discusses key findings about the response of firms and consumers. The relatively muted pass-through observed in Switzerland reveals that a stronger currency does not fully translate into proportionate reductions in consumer […]
Europe faces a large climate investment gap. This column proposes filling this gap through the joint issuance of European climate bonds. These bonds would be funded by selling greenhouse gas emission allowances via the Emissions Trading System extended to all sectors. Access to the resulting funds would be conditional on countries’ implementation of climate projects. […]
The investment decisions of firms is a key channel for the transmission of monetary policy. Yet, most firms invest infrequently and when they do, they spend large amounts. This column shows that monetary policy stimulates investment not only by affecting how much firms invest, but also whether they invest at all. The latter channel is […]
Concentration (the share of a market’s output produced by its largest firms) is a key proxy for measuring market competition. This column introduces a cross-country dataset to measure concentration at the industry level between 2000 and 2019. It captures both domestic production and international trade flows as well as business group linkages. It finds that […]
