The Covid-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in global supply chain pressures. This column studies the impact of these supply disruptions on euro area core inflation. It shows that global supply chain pressure shocks were the dominant driver of euro area core inflation in 2022, and their impact on inflation is persistent and hump-shaped. […]
Article 6(4) of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which comes into full force in the European Union on 7 March, requires Apple to permit third-party app stores to distribute apps on its iOS devices. This column reviews Apple’s scheme to comply with this requirement and argues that the proposed terms will block entry and innovation […]
Throughout 2022 and 2023, the EU labour market showed a high degree of resilience in the face of weak growth, which is partly explained by firms hoarding labour in the presence of persistent labour shortages. This column presents a new Labour Hoarding Indicator developed by the European Commission based on its Joint Harmonised EU Programme […]
Much of the current research on offshore financial centres has focused on the roles of tax havens in advanced economies, and less is known about the case of developing countries, especially after a financial crisis. This column shows that tax havens not only facilitate tax evasion and corruption in ‘normal times’, they also harbour funds […]
Oil prices ticked up slightly on Monday following the widely expected extension of voluntary output cuts by the OPEC+ producer group on Sunday. Brent futures climbed 14 cents to $83.69 a barrel at 0729 GMT after rising 2.4% last week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) inched up 3 cents to $80 a barrel following a […]
The Swiss National Bank on Monday posted an annual loss of 3.2 billion Swiss francs ($3.62 billion) for 2023, as a switch to positive interest rates cost it dearly and meant it couldn’t pay a dividend for a second straight year. The SNB became the latest central bank to report losses as higher interest rates imposed […]
Surveys find heterogeneity among individuals’ expectations. This heterogeneity, when explicitly accounted for, modifies standard models of inflation dynamics. This column proposes a novel way of estimating models of inflation that account for the role of heterogeneous beliefs. Heterogenous expectations play a statistically and economically important part in explaining the dynamics of inflation. They contributed to […]
The third UN Millennium Development Goal seeks to ensure a healthy life “for all”. Using height inequality as an indicator, this column shows that the introduction of public health insurance schemes over the last 150 years substantially reduced health inequality. However, a variety of outcome measures are needed to monitor health inequality in order to […]
Negotiations over phasing out fossil fuels at the COP28 climate summit highlighted how difficult it is for the international community to coordinate climate policies. This column argues that the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism constitutes an important step forward from current anti-leakage policies, but only if it can prevent evasion and impose no unnecessary economic […]
Discussion of ‘geoeconomics’ – countries using their economic strength to achieve geopolitical goals – has increased rapidly following the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia. This column presents a novel framework to understand how a hegemon in the international system exerts its power within its economic network. The authors use the framework to demonstrate how […]
