How do trade restrictiveness and trade policy uncertainty affect FDI? An empirical investigation
Rising trade barriers and uncertainty are choking FDI inflows, hitting low and middle-income investors hardest in a fragmented global economy. In the context of rising
Making sense of conflicting labour market signals
Can policymakers rely on traditional labour market indicators when unemployment, vacancies, wages, and payroll growth appear to send conflicting signals? This column presents a new
Market-implied inflation expectations during the Iran shock
Real-time assessments of inflation expectations can be valuable for assessing the inflation outlook. This column decomposes inflation swaps for the US, UK, and euro area
Financial regulation: Catalyst for sustainable economic development
The real objective should be to transform the insurance sector into one with real economic and developmental impact. There is a pivotal role for supervisory
Cheaper machines, costlier buildings: The drag on long-run growth
The steady decline in the relative price of equipment has long been seen as a primary engine of long-run growth. This column documents a quieter,
From European public goods to a European safe asset: A pragmatic roadmap
The search for a European safe asset has generated no shortage of proposals, but these proposals require, from the outset, a degree of mutual trust
Industrial policy, tariffs, and the return of global imbalances
Has the rise of industrial policy driven an increase in global current account imbalances? Can tariffs fix them? This column revisits these questions. Looking at
Global economic outlook hangs in balance between geopolitical headwinds and AI boost, WEF Chief Economists’ Outlook warns
Nearly nine in ten chief economists surveyed expect global growth to weaken over the next 12 months. The global economic outlook has deteriorated sharply in
South Asia opens up: How trade reforms impact households and sectors
Over the next decade, about 280 million people will come of working age in South Asia. The region needs a robust growth engine to create jobs
Can we even measure progress? The state of development data
Imagine you’ve just been appointed Minister of Finance. Tomorrow morning, you must decide where to build schools and clinics, how much to borrow, and which
