Trade in services has been relatively neglected in trade policy debates. This column argues that this is partly due to the fact that ‘mode 3’ services, the biggest mode of supply for services trade whereby companies establish a physical presence abroad to deliver services to foreign customers, are systematically missing from official trade statistics. A […]
The rise in the use of non-tariff measures, especially in the form of antidumping duties and countervailing duties, has dramatically changed the landscape of trade policy. This column leverages the ongoing Sino-EU disputes over electric vehicles to examine why countries mix tariff and non-tariff measures and whether such mixing depends on the characteristics of the […]
The bank failures in March 2023 revived old debates about the role of deposit funding for banks, the best way to address the fragility inherent in deposit funding, and more general policy reflections on the need to adjust banks’ regulatory and supervisory frameworks. This first in a two-column series discusses the role of deposit funding […]
Firms can react to geopolitical and supply chain shocks by altering their input sourcing and sales destination choices. This column presents new evidence of the effect of war on the trade flows of third countries. The authors show that in response to the excess demand shock caused by sactions on Russia following its invasion of […]
Concerns about growing inequality and a shrinking middle class are deeply ingrained in European public perceptions. This column provides a more nuanced picture of Europe over the last 15 years. Income inequality for the EU as a whole has declined due to a strong process of income convergence between countries. At the same time, the […]
The recent rise in interest rates worldwide has reignited the debate over its implications for emerging market economies. This column uses data for the euro area to examine whether interest rate increases in advanced economies trigger capital outflows from emerging market debt securities. The authors find no consistent evidence of spillovers to capital flows through […]
Climate-related risks, both those related to the warming of the planet and those related to our actions to mitigate it, are a factor in asset pricing. This column argues that the nature of these risks is quite different from that of other shocks commonly considered in asset pricing models. Specifically, these shocks come from distributions […]
All of the measures regularly monitored at the ECB of underlying inflation, which captures the ‘signal’ on medium-term inflationary pressures, have come down since the post-pandemic inflation surge in the euro area. Yet, some proxies have been more sluggish than others and the range remains wide, reflecting how the shocks of recent years have affected […]
European Union members face a pivotal vote on Friday on whether to impose tariffs of up to 45% on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles in the bloc’s highest profile trade case, which risks retaliation from Beijing. The European Commission, which oversees the bloc’s trade policy, proposed final duties for the next five years to counter what it […]
Oil prices were little changed on Friday, but remained on track for strong weekly gains, as investors weighed the prospect of a wider Middle East conflict disrupting crude flows against an amply supplied global market. Brent crude futures ticked down 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $77.54 a barrel as of 0415 GMT. U.S. West Texas […]
