Introduction The European Forum Alpbach is an annual conference, staged since the 1940s in Austria, where the challenges faced by Europe and the European Union are discussed. At the 2024 forum (17-30 August 2024) 1 , Bruegel participated as a Track Reporting Partner covering the finance and economy track. This article summarises the discussions relating to six […]
‘Buy national’ provisions serve as non-tariff barriers to trade and are often defended as tools for job creation and industrial policy. This column examines the costs and benefits of current and anticipated future provisions under the Buy American Act of 1933, which discourages federal agencies from purchasing ‘foreign’ goods. Forged during the Great Depression, the […]
Capital income taxation is increasingly recognised as essential for addressing inequality, yet its effectiveness is often limited by behavioural responses. This column analyses French capital income tax reforms and finds that both capital income and labour income responses to capital tax changes play a crucial role in determining the Laffer tax rate on capital income. […]
Key players in U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s new cryptocurrency venture were among high-profile industry figures gathering at a bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday, as the digital currency sets record highs. Speakers at the two-day event include Trump’s son Eric as well as billionaire Steve Witkoff, the new White House envoy for the Middle […]
Germany’s Allianz said on Monday it plans to distribute at least three-quarters of its net profit to shareholders via dividends and share buybacks over the next three years. The Munich-based insurer said it would maintain its dividend policy of distributing 60% of the net profit after minority interests directly. Additionally, from 2025 to 2027, at least […]
This year will be the world’s warmest since records began, with extraordinarily high temperatures expected to persist into at least the first few months of 2025, European Union scientists said on Monday. The data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) comes two weeks after U.N. climate talks yielded a $300 billion deal to tackle climate […]
European regulators have asked Google for more information about its now-scrapped secret advertising partnership with Instagram-parent Meta Platforms that ignored the search company’s rules on how minors should be treated online, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. An FT investigation, revealed in August how Google helped Meta in a secret marketing project targeting 13- to 17-year-olds who […]
In one of their most dovish statements in more than a decade, Chinese leaders signalled on Monday they are ready to deploy whatever stimulus is needed to counter the impact of expected U.S. trade tariffs on next year’s economic growth. After a meeting of top Communist Party officials, the Politburo, officials said they would switch […]
Carbon taxes are notoriously unpopular, but handing back carbon tax revenue as lump-sum dividends to all citizens as climate dividends is inefficient. This column investigates three revenue recycling scenarios through a simulation model for Germany. For optimal efficiency and equity, carbon taxes must be set higher, beyond the aggregate damages from global warming, and the […]
Sample surveys have been a fundamental tool for capturing policy-relevant heterogeneities among agents, especially firms, and remain crucial for providing insights into key analytical issues. This column argues that the digitalisation of information systems, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the growing availability of administrative and big data offer significant opportunities for improving surveys. Integrating […]
