The Phillips curve describes the relationship between inflation and real economic activity over the business cycle. This column challenges the notion that the Phillips curve is flat. Using pre-pandemic Belgian micro data, it shows that inflation responds to variations in production costs but is insensitive to variations in output. The flatness of the conventional output-gap […]
Cities are engines of economic growth and job creation, and their future pathways will shape global development outcomes for decades to come. But the success of this transformation depends on making the right investments now—investments that strengthen essential infrastructure, unlock new jobs, and build cities that are more sustainable and resilient. The charts below visualize […]
The global economy is facing heightened uncertainty, clouding economic forecasts. In our recently launched April 2025 Middle East and North Africa Economic Update , we report that growth in MENA averaged a modest 1.9% in 2024 and is forecast to accelerate moderately to 2.6% in 2025. But growth forecasts for countries across the region are shadowed in […]
Every year on United Nations World Bicycle Day (June 3), we celebrate the transformative benefits of the bicycle. At the World Bank Group headquarters in Washington, DC, staff from across the institution gathered in the main atrium—as per a growing tradition—to recognize the tremendous contribution the bicycle can make to the World Bank’s mission of ending extreme […]
The European Union Nature Restoration Law (NRL) entered into force in 2024. The NRL sets quantitative restoration targets aimed at improving natural habitats that are currently in poor condition, with substantial leeway for countries to choose implementation pathways that fit their priorities. This Working Paper examines three pathways: (1) evenly spreading restoration efforts across all […]
As inflation surged globally, economists and policymakers focused their attention on the expectations of households and financial markets – but relatively little was known about the inflation expectations of firms. Using a survey of French firms from 2020 to 2024, this column examines how inflation expectations form, evolve, and affect decisions, as well as their […]
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles can use either fossil fuels or electricity and offer potential emission reductions, depending on the driver’s usage. This column examines how access to charging at home influences the share of driving that employees with company cars in Germany do using electricity. Access to home charging reduces the users’ fossil fuel consumption […]
Safe assets are financial instruments that maintain a stable value even after adverse macroeconomic shocks. This column explores how banks supply safe assets through securitisation and evaluates the consequences for financial stability. As safe assets become scarcer, banks increasingly rely on securitisation to produce safe assets, relaxing screening standards in the process. This lowers loan […]
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles can use either fossil fuels or electricity and offer potential emission reductions, depending on the driver’s usage. This column examines how access to charging at home influences the share of driving that employees with company cars in Germany do using electricity. Access to home charging reduces the users’ fossil fuel consumption […]
That was above the 6.7% expansion in gross domestic product forecast in a Reuters poll for the March quarter India’s economy grew 7.4% in the January-March quarter from the same period last year, its fastest in a year, and up from a revised 6.4% in the previous three months, data released on Friday showed. That […]
