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Education Economy Featured Healthcare

Reassessing the mental health crisis among PhD students

The mental health of PhD students has become a growing concern, with reports highlighting high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. However, much of this research relies on small surveys. This column uses large-scale administrative data from Sweden to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the mental health risks of doctoral education, and finds […]

Development Featured Finance

Who holds sovereign debt and why it matters

Globally, government debt has increased substantially since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions. This columns asks who the investors that hold government debt are, and whether the ownership composition matters. Overall, as debt increases, non-bank investors, in particular investment funds, take up more of this debt than other investor groups. Emerging market […]

Healthcare Economy Featured

Digital access and infectious disease spread

While digital connectivity can greatly enhance healthcare delivery, especially in regions lacking traditional medical facilities, the overall impact of this increased access to information remains a topic of ongoing evaluation and debate. This column examines the effect of internet access on COVID-19 spread in Indonesia, a developing country characterised by considerable variations in both mobile […]

Banking Featured Finance

Addressing banks’ vulnerability to runs, part 2: Policy options

The banking turmoil in March 2023 was the most significant system-wide banking stress event since the global crisis. This second column in a two-part series discusses policy options to adjust bank regulatory and supervisory frameworks, considering pros and cons. Some options (such as narrow banking or full deposit insurance) appear impractical or too costly, while […]

trade Featured World

The ‘hidden giant’: How official statistics underestimate the true scale of global services trade

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 […]

World Environment trade

Sino-EU battery electric vehicle dispute: Mixing tariff and non-tariff measures

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 […]

Finance Banking Featured

Addressing banks’ vulnerability to runs, part 1: Facts, arguments, and policy challenges

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 […]

World Business Featured

A picture of income inequality and middle classes across the EU

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 […]

World Featured Finance

Spillovers to emerging markets and investor heterogeneity

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 […]