China is on track to meet global green-tech demand but needs to pivot from manufacturing to infrastructure. China is crucial role to the world’s green transition for two contrasting reasons: it is the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter – over 30 percent of the global total – and it is the world’s largest producer of […]
Green public procurement supports EU climate goals but may conflict with other objectives, creating trade-offs that challenge its effectiveness. Public procurement, or the purchasing of goods and services by governments, is among the most powerful policy tools available to the public sector. Accounting for nearly 14 percent of European Union GDP, it shapes markets, signals priorities and […]
The US should start fiscal adjustment as soon as it can if it wants to head off the risk of exploding debt related to Trump’s tax and spending plan. On 4 July 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) . It contains tax and budgetary provisions and is projected […]
With working-age populations projected to decline rapidly, all European countries face an unprecedented demographic challenge. Inflows of regular foreign workers are thus key to support employment and growth. This column argues that Italy, where the demographic decline is particularly sharp, has a lot to learn from its neighbours to make its migration policies more effective […]
Preliminary data releases can diverge significantly from subsequently revised figures, complicating economic policy decisions made in real time. This column shows how real-time GDP releases understated the strength of the post-pandemic recovery in both the euro area and the United States. This distorted view painted a more pessimistic picture than subsequently revised data revealed, masking […]
Commodity prices have historically been considered leading indicators of inflation, but the relationship has weakened since the mid-1980s, making them less reliable predictors. This column analyses more than a million Reuters news articles between 2001 and 2023 to capture supply and demand dynamics in commodity markets. The findings show that text-based indicators of supply and […]
Loss of confidence in the US dollar’s reserve currency status could trigger a collapse of the US Treasury market and international financial fragmentation. This column argues that hedging is a rational response to recent fluctuations in the US dollar, as investors look to insure against exchange rate risks. However, widespread hedging itself makes Treasuries less […]
Governments everywhere are facing significant fiscal challenges due to rising debt, ageing populations trend in some parts of the world such as Asia, Europe and Northern America, climate shocks, and heightened geopolitical tensions. As citizens expect more from their governments—better healthcare, stronger safety nets, faster disaster response—available budget resources are shrinking. Ministries of finance must now focus on deploying […]
Developing economies today face an investment shortfall of historic proportions. Meeting even the most modest development goals will require a huge investment push—equal to about 5 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) per year. For low-income countries, the financing gap is about 8 percent of GDP annually. It’s a prohibitive price tag that runs into trillions of […]
Hotter-than-usual years can slow or derail advances in women’s legal rights. A new analysis spanning five decades finds that temperature anomalies—years significantly hotter than a country’s historical norm—are associated with slower gains in legal equality for women, especially in low-income settings. The logic is simple but consequential: extreme-weather events tend to strain budgets and institutions, prompting governments […]
