Governments in many low- and middle-income countries are developing health insurance products as a complement to tax-funded, subsidised provision of healthcare through publicly operated facilities. This column discusses the rationales for this transition and reviews the performance of health insurance schemes over the last two decades. Despite evidence that health insurance has provided financial protection, […]
Weekly extra-EU27 imports of natural gas for 2021 and 2022, compared with weekly minimum and maximum import values for the period 2015-2020. By selecting from the dropdown, the figure shows total imports but also imports exclusively from Russia, Norway, Algeria pipelines, liquefied natural gas (LNG, gas transported by ship from around the world), and the […]
1 Introduction Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), a digital equivalent of cash, are increasingly gaining traction. At least 114 jurisdictions, representing 95 percent of global GDP, are at some stage of developing a CBDC 1 . In 11 countries, CBDCs are now a reality and operate in parallel to their physical equivalent. But it is not necessarily […]
The transformational Vision 2036 Achieving Prosperity for All defines Botswana’s aspirations to chart its way from a middle-income to a high-income economy. Promoting gender equality and granting men and women equal opportunities to participate in the economy are key components of the Government reset agenda for inclusive development. But how can we best support Botswana as it strives to make gender […]
Years of ongoing exposure to conflict have exacted a toll on the mental health of Palestinians. This includes decades of exposure to conflict, restrictions on movements and poor living conditions, particularly for the inhabitants of Gaza who are subject to a partial air and land blockade. In this context we resolved to investigate the mental […]
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming economies and societies, but research on how it is being adopted across firms is still in its early stages, especially at the international level. This column explores the patterns of AI use across 11 countries, focusing on firm characteristics, the role of complementary assets, and the links between AI use […]
In the spirit of unity, let me start with a statement we can all agree on: the EU needs to grow its capital markets. That statement begs at least two big questions. On these, there is less agreement. Firstly, how should we grow them? And secondly, why haven’t they grown more already? A lot of […]
When future generations share the story of plastic pollution, it will include graphic images of turtles choking on plastic debris, zooming out to show beaches and communities laden with trash, and panning to medical reports showing microplastic in the average person’s bloodstream. This is a story that started as an environmental crisis, and quickly became an […]
The growth of digital wallets and popular ‘buy now, pay later’ options raises concerns about social welfare and policy. This column uses data from a world-leading Chinese provider to document that ‘buy now, pay later’ dominates e-wallet transactions and expands FinTech credit to underserved consumers. It also substantially boosts consumer spending, but users – especially […]
While a growing literature has highlighted the role of economic grievances, global transformations, cultural cleavages, and isolation in engendering political discontent, the nexus with local shocks has not yet been explored. This column documents that two earthquakes in Italy resulted in sharply diverging electoral outcomes: while the 2012 Emilia quake did not alter voting behaviour, […]
