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Economy Featured Lifestyle News World

Risks and challenges in global agricultural markets

Agricultural commodity prices continued their downward trend in the second quarter of 2025, with the World Bank’s agricultural price index dropping nearly 7 percent since the start of the year. Food and raw material prices within the index fell by 7 and 1 percent, respectively, while beverage prices fell by 13 percent. The index is […]

Finance Banking Featured News World

The supply side of monetary policy: How floating-rate loans blunt the ECB’s fight against inflation

Central banks raise interest rates to reduce aggregate demand and bring inflation down. This column uses credit register data and product-level price data from the euro area to highlight a parallel and potentially offsetting supply-side mechanism. It shows that in markets where firms rely more heavily on floating-rate loans, the ECB’s monetary tightening had a […]

trade Featured Finance World

The battle for trade currency dominance: The dollar vs the renminbi in Argentina

The US dollar has traditionally dominated the invoicing of international trade. But could other currencies one day replace it? This column examines a unique policy experiment in Argentina in 2023. Amid a severe dollar shortage, Argentina expanded its currency swap agreement with the People’s Bank of China. The share of imports from China invoiced in […]

Banking Economy Featured News World

Interlocking directorates and competition in banking

The presence of directors on the boards of competing firms (‘interlocking directorates’) raises concerns about collusion. This column studies the Italian corporate loan market and exploits a reform that prohibited directors of Italian banks from sitting on multiple boards simultaneously. Comparing treated and control loans before and after the policy, it shows that the ban […]

Technology Featured News World

Dynamism in generative AI markets since the release of ChatGPT

The success of ChatGPT has raised fears that the excessive concentration of generative AI technology within one or two leading US companies could reduce market dynamism. This column presents novel empirical evidence which suggests that the supply of AI has been more open than initially expected in various segments of the AI value chain, driving […]

Economy Business Featured Finance World

Understanding the impact of private equity on employees

The growth of the private equity in recent years has raised concerns about its consequences. This column matches 2.5 million workers who were employed by 3,600 firms in the US that underwent leveraged buyouts with workers at firms that were not acquired to explore the effects of private equity on labour market outcomes. The authors […]

trade Economy Featured News World

Beyond tariffs: Chinese state-owned enterprises in the trade war

While tariffs have been the most visible policy tool during the US-China trade war, anecdotal evidence points to the use of Chinese state-owned enterprises as a hidden lever of protectionism. This column presents new systematic evidence showing that state-owned enterprises drove a significant share of the decline in US exports to China in 2018–2019, especially […]

Finance Economy Featured News World

Europe must not waste its currency moment

Escalating geopolitical tensions, trade wars, and volatile policy shifts are reshaping the rules of global commerce and finance and bringing the dominance of the US dollar into question. This column argues that Europe has a historic opportunity to elevate the euro into a trusted global anchor of stability and thus rebalance a global monetary order […]

Finance Banking Business Featured News

Inflation targeting: Its current state and key challenges

Inflation targeting has emerged as the dominant monetary policy framework in advanced and emerging market economies. This column discusses three main challenges faced by inflation-targeting central banks: the recent high-inflation episode and increasingly frequent supply-side disruptions; expanding central bank balance sheets since the Global Crisis; and risks to central bank independence. The authors argue that […]